


I Don't? Work Alone

by TheQueerestWriter



Series: I Don't? Work Alone [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Danny Phantom
Genre: Bad Father, Boys In Love, Brothers, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Bruce has no chill, Danny in the batfam, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jason is a good brother, Jason's brothers love him, M/M, Past Torture, Scars, Terror, lazarus rage, lots of breaking and entering, no phantom planet, orphan Danny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 70,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueerestWriter/pseuds/TheQueerestWriter
Summary: A new vigilante called Phantom shows up in Red Hood's turf and rather than sending him packing, Jason decides to let him work for him. Meanwhile the cutest guy Jason has ever met named Danny moves into the apartment below his. Will Red Hood be able to play nice with Phantom, and will Jason be able to muster up the courage to ask Danny out?
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Jason Todd, Danny Phantom/Red Hood, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: I Don't? Work Alone [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834786
Comments: 265
Kudos: 1024





	1. A Ghost in the Narrows

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been swirling around in my head for a while, and I finally added the missing piece that encouraged me to write it! Enjoy!

Red Hood leapt from the roof, feeling gravity get a hold of him before his grapple caught and he was yanked out of the dive, swinging smoothly to the next building. It was great to fly. It was great to have control over his territory again, or as much as you can control the dregs of the city. It would never be perfect here, but it was Jason’s home, and he’d decided to protect it despite his less than pleasant relationship with Bats. What did Jason care about him? He’d never cared about Jason before. 

Jason stopped his momentum on the roof of a bar near where several of the working girls he knew would be this time of night. Sure enough, Honey, Chastity, and Amber were arranged around a light post smoking or playing on their phones. Honey noticed him first. 

“Hey Hood! Are you here to scare all the John’s away again?” she called up to him. Jason grinned under his helmet. He liked Honey, she was a fighter. All the girls were. Red hood stood from where he was crouched on the roof and called back to her. “Can’t I just visit the prettiest girls in all of Gotham?” That got all three girls snickering. 

“Come down here and say that to my face,” Honey said, her voice silky sweet. Jason grinned again and leapt off the roof, rolling as he hit the road to muffle the impact. He walked over to the warm glow of their street light and Honey grabbed a fistful of his leather jacket and planted a kiss on his helmet. Jason had taken care of an abusive ex for her and she’d been sweet on him ever since. That or she liked how he paid her for information instead of her bed, but you know, semantics. 

“So what brings you to our little corner of the Narrows?” Honey asked as she let go of his jacket. 

“Just checking in,” Jason shrugged. “You might have noticed I was out of town for a few days. Just want to make sure no new villains, super or otherwise, popped up while I was shooting the shit with the Bat brats.” 

“I knew you didn’t just come to see me,” Honey pouted. Jason was pretty sure she was faking. 

“Well, you are the best source of gossip around,” Jason tried. She smiled at him. 

“Well, I haven’t heard about any new super villains or crime lords, have you girls?” Honey asked as she turned to Chastity and Amber who had wandered up the street away from Red Hood. They didn’t dislike him or anything, but Jason knew he was bad for business.

“Nothing really,” Amber said, the brunet barely looked up from her phone. 

“I haven’t heard anything bad,” Chastity started. “But there are those ghost rumors," she said with a shutter.

“Ghosts?” Jason asked, because while that sounded ridiculous, he knew not to let any rumor go unchecked. 

“Oh yeah,” Honey said. “It’s not really a ghost I don’t think. That’s just what they’re calling him.” 

“Calling who?” Jason asked, desperately trying to keep the growl out of his voice. 

“Now don’t go all murdery on me Hood, according to Lilly he’s a good guy,” Honey said, placing a calming hand on Jason’s chest, her honey blond curls shifted and shimmered in the light of the street lamp. 

“Okay, fine,” Jason conceded with a sigh. “But what’s the story?”

“Well, you should probably ask Lilly, I think she’s off tonight, but she said this new guy, one of yours, you know, a vigilante, helped her when a John she’d told no to got rough. This new guy beat the crap out of him and then just vanished, like a ghost!” She waved her hands around for emphasis. 

“I heard he took down a mugger too,” Chastity added, nodding. Her blond hair bouncing with the motion. 

“This one John I talked to was saying something about one of his boys blabbering bout a ghost attacking him when he was trying to sell some sugar and melting his supply with a green laser beam,” Amber added, finally looking up from her phone. 

“A meta?” Jason said, mostly to himself. 

“Probably,” Honey answered anyway. “But don’t you go beating him up now, he’s just trying to help," she scolded. Jason shook his head. 

“Naw, but this is my terf. If you girls see him, let him know I want to talk," he said nonchalantly.

“Hood,” Honey warned. 

“Just talk,” Jason confirmed in a sincere tone. “Thanks for the info,” he said, pressing some money into her hand. She kissed his helmet again and he turned and scrambled up the nearest fire escape. 

‘So there’s a new player in town?’ he thought to himself. Jason didn’t like competition in his territory, and he knew Bats would go crazy if he heard a meta was taking up residence in Gotham. He was going to have to find this punk and convince him Gotham was too much trouble, one way or another. 

...

The night dragged on as Red Hood took out yet another punk who thought he could sell drugs to kids. He was just finishing punching the man’s lights out when he noticed movement on the roof above him. Jason looked up and caught a flash of white hair before the figure ducked back out of sight. Jason punched the guy he was holding one more time before yanking his grapple out of its holster and firing. The cable rolled back up with a low whine as it pulled him up to the roof. He landed in a crouch and didn’t even have to search for the intruder; he was standing in the middle of the roof, waiting. 

Jason looked him over with a discerning eye. The guy wasn’t huge, a foot or more shorter than Jason himself, and lean, but not scrawny. Jason could see the wiry muscle underneath the black hoodie and jeans the guy was wearing. He was also wearing black steel toed boots and grey knee pads and gloves. His hair was strangely white. Not the white of old age, but glossier and bouncy, almost ethereal. His hood was thrown up. Over his eyes he’d tied a strip of black cloth, like a blind fold, but Jason figured it was thin enough that he could see through it. He bore no weapons that Jason could see, either on his belt or hidden anywhere, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. 

“So you’re this ghost I’ve heard about?” Jason said, casually pulling a gun from his belt and holding it loosely at his side. It was loaded with rubber bullets, an attempt to not piss off the Bats that had so far worked in getting Jason closer to a few of his brothers, mostly Tim and Damien. 

“Phantom,” the guy corrected. It was impossible to tell his age from his voice because he spoke with a gravel that didn’t seem natural, almost like he had a really bad sore throat. Jason took a step closer and caught sight of the scars twisting up his neck. So it could be an old injury that was causing the strain in his voice. 

“Phantom?” Jason asked. “How original," he said with an eye roll. The guy, Phantom, just shrugged. 

“What are you doing in Gotham, Phantom? Don’t you know this is Bat territory?” he said with an edge to his voice. Jason took another step forward, to make sure the guy knew who was in charge here.

“The Narrows aren’t the Bat’s,” Phantom countered. He was surprisingly calm, and he either hadn't noticed the gun in Red Hood’s hand, or just didn’t care. If he thought Jason wouldn’t shoot him, he was surprisingly stupid. 

“No, the Narrows aren’t the Bat’s, they’re mine. And I assure you, I’m much worse," he growled. 

“Look, I’m not trying to take over or undermine you,” Phantom said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “I just want to help. You know, take out the small fry. I’ll leave the big jobs to you.” 

Jason cocked his head at him. “I don’t need help," he said, harshly.

“I believe you. But just cause you don’t need it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice right? Less time spent stopping muggings and drug deals, more time to spend taking down the king pins or catching up on sleep, or whatever,” Phantom said with a little smirk.

Jason had to admit, the idea was tempting. There were occasions where he needed to spend time on a big case but had to drop everything to go on patrol. Or the times where crime spiked and he had to forgo sleep so he could get everything under control. A little help would be nice. On the other hand, anyone he worked with had the potential to stab him in the back, or figure out who he really was and stab his whole family in the back. It was a serious risk that Jason wasn’t sure he was willing to take for the prospect of a little more sleep. 

“I don’t work with people I don’t know,” Jason said, mostly to see how the guy would react. Phantom shrugged. 

“Then what if I worked for you instead of with you?” Phantom suggested. Now that was a thought, set the partnership up as more of a worker employee situation. Jason could even pay him. He confiscated enough dirty money to handle the expense. If Phantom was his employee, then Jason could tell him exactly what to do and where to go and could more easily cut him off if he got out of hand. 

“You’d do what I say and work by my rules?” Jason asked, with a raised eyebrow. 

“Sure, whatever you want. I just want to help. I live here too ya know?” Phantom said.

Jason wasn’t sure he believed that. He knew the guy hadn’t grown up here at least. He didn’t have the accent. Jason supposed he could have grown up in the city proper and moved to the narrows when he came down on his luck. But that was just a theory, for now. 

“Alright,” Jason said. “You can work for me. But, if I hear that you’ve been hurting instead of helping...” Jason pointed his gun at Phantom, “I’ll put a bullet in your head no questions asked," he said with a menacing tilt to his voice. 

Instead of flinching, Phantom grinned and Jason noticed he was missing his right upper canine. Jason rolled his eyes under his hood and holstered his gun. He looked at the display on the inside of his helmet and saw that it was just past 4:00 am, even the worst of the worst would be in bed by now. It was time to call it a night. 

“Meet me back here tomorrow at 10:00 PM, and we’ll go over the terms of your employment,” Jason said. 

“Sweet, see you then,” Phantom said, turning. With a running start he leapt off the roof. Curious, and slightly worried since the guy clearly didn’t have a grapple on him, Jason ran to the edge of the roof in time to see Phantom floating down to the ground, like he was falling in slow motion. When his feet hit the ground, he looked back up at Jason and saluted before sinking straight through the road. Jason blinked at where he’d disappeared. So that confirmed he was a meta, and explained the reason everyone was calling him a ghost. 

“Creepy,” Jason muttered to himself as he straightened and turned toward home.

...

Jason dragged his feet up the stairs to his apartment; the elevator had been broken as long as he’d lived here, which was fine, he wouldn’t have used it anyway. He wasn’t fond of tight spaces. He’d changed into civilian clothes at a safe house; he didn’t need some thug to see Red Hood climbing into his window and knowing where he lived. 

Jason’s apartment was on the top floor of a narrow five story building. It was small, with one large room that was the living room, dining room, and kitchen all in one. A door led to the bedroom, and another led to a bathroom. Jason unlocked his door and disengaged his traps before marching in and dumping his backpack with his Red Hood gear on his already cluttered table. He never ate at the thing, instead he cleaned and built weapons and other gadgets there. Currently there was a half built bomb sitting on it, but there was no way it would blow up just cause he dropped a backpack on it, probably. 

Jason didn’t bother turning on the lights as he stripped off his clothes and walked to the bathroom to shower. The scalding water was heaven on his sore muscles, and he stayed until it ran cold, which wasn’t long in this shitty building. Once he was clean and in comfy sweatpants, Jason rummaged through his fridge and found a takeout container of Chinese that was probably still good and threw it in the microwave. 

He could cook, and enjoyed it, but with all the shit Red Hood had to deal with, he rarely had the time. But now, Jason thought, if this gig with Phantom works, he might actually have time to cook again. 

The microwave beeped and jogged Jason out of his thoughts. He pulled the food out and plopped down on his ratty old couch to watch the morning news, it was almost 6:00 AM. He didn’t even make it to his bed before he fell asleep on the couch. 

...

Jason woke up to his phone ringing and didn’t check the caller ID before he answered with a groggy, “What?” 

“Afternoon Jason,” Timothy Drake said, sounding like he was on his fifth cup of coffee. “Did I wake you?” 

“What time is it?” Jason asked as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Light was still leaking in from around his black out curtains so it wasn’t night yet. He hadn't slept the whole day. 

“Almost 3,” Tim answered. Jason groaned; that was a lot longer than he’d meant to sleep. He still needed to go shopping before patrol, and he needed to set something up before he met with Phantom again. “Do you have a minute?” Tim asked. Jason grunted and Tim took that as a yes. 

“Have you heard rumors about a new player in Gotham?” Tim asked with an air of curiosity. 

“How have you heard about Phantom already?” Jason asked.

“He’s got a name?” Tim asked, sounding surprised. 

“Yeah, I met him last night,” Jason said, getting off the couch and walking to the kitchen. He set his kettle on the stove; he needed tea. “You haven’t told Bats about him yet have you?” he asked. Jason doubted Tim would. He wasn’t on the best of terms with Bruce either, which was actually how they’d come to something of an understanding that had slowly grown into a friendship since Jason had left the Outlaws and come back to Gotham a year ago. 

“No, I haven’t told Batman. I only just picked up wind of it last night on patrol. This group of thugs were talking about this vengeful ghost in the Narrows. Said he took down one of their buddies and destroyed some drugs. Sounded like a meta to me,” Tim said.

“Damn I forget how fast shit travels around here,” Jason said as he leaned on the counter. “I heard that tale too.” He started to glare at the unheated kettle.

“You said you met him? What’s the verdict?” Tim asked. Jason could hear the kid typing on his laptop in the background. 

“He’s definitely a meta. Watched him pass straight through the ground when he left,” Jason said as he intensified his glare at the kettle, willing it to boil faster. 

“Hmm,” Tim said, still typing away. “What are you going to do about it? He hasn’t left your territory as far as I can tell, so this is your call.” 

“I’m gonna hire him,” Jason said matter of factly. 

“What?!” Tim spluttered. “Since when does the Red Hood work with anyone?” he asked, astonished. 

“Now that’s just unfair, I work with you brats,” Jason said. 

“That’s different, we know each other. But this is a new player. You can’t trust him,” Tim said. Jason could hear he was now typing away furiously on his keyboard. 

“I have no intention of trusting him. And I’m not working with him, he is going to work for me,” Jason said indignantly.

“Is there a difference?” Tim questioned. 

“Of course there’s a difference,” Jason said exasperated, his kettle finally whistling. He happily poured the steaming water into a mug with a tea bag and waited while it seeped. “Working with me implies trust, working for me implies doing what I tell you or I’ll shoot your fucking brains out," he explained in a bland tone. Tim hummed again. 

“So you’re going to give him a shot?” Tim said after a moment of silence. 

“Something like that,” Jason said. “I’ll just have him take care of the small fry so I can focus on the big fish.” 

“Well be careful. Meta’s are dangerous till you know their weakness,” Tim said, with a warning note in his voice. 

“Thank you Bruce, I do know what I’m doing,” Jason said with exasperation. Tim just huffed at him. 

Jason blew on his tea and took a sip. 

“I know you do, just, keep your coms open, at least to me," Tim said. And call for backup if you need it. I’m not ready to trust him yet."

“Now you really sound like Bruce,” Jason said, but not unkindly. “I’ll be careful. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got shit to do. And don’t tell the old man about this. I don’t need him snooping into Phantom till I’ve had a chance to figure him out,” Jason warned.

“I’ll keep him in the dark as long as I can, but you know how he is, world's greatest detective and all. You’ll have a week at least. Bruce is out of town on Wayne Enterprises business, but there’s no telling how fast he’ll pick up the rumors once he comes back,” Tim said, with a strong but well meaning warning in his voice. 

“Thanks Tim, I’ll see you later,” Jason said, and meant it. 

“We still on for movie night Friday?” Tim asked, voice changing from business to playful. 

“I’ll make pizza,” Jason agreed and hung up the phone. He was glad Tim reminded him about their little play date, otherwise he would have forgotten. Somehow, Jason had gotten close to Tim when he came back to Gotham. He would’ve thought the kid would hate him, seeing as how Jason almost killed him, but Tim had seen that the Jason who left Gotham and the one who came back were not the same person. The Lazarus rage had worn itself out, mostly, and now Jason just felt bad for trying to kill the replacement. The anger had been his own, but without the Lazarus rage, and Taila’s influence, he never would have taken it that far. And once Tim spilled the beans about the Lazarus pit to Damian, the little demon had come over to his side pretty fast. Now the three of them regularly hung out in their free time and would team up in their hero lives. Jason still wasn’t ready to forgive Dick or Bruce, but he had two real brothers now, and that was enough.

Once Jason had finished his tea and downed a few granola bars, he grabbed the keys to his car, his bike was too hard to transport groceries with. He needed to get stuff for pizza and various other normal people supplies. He was almost out of shampoo, and he was pretty sure he needed to replace his toothbrush. He also needed to set up a burner phone, he was going to need a way to contact Phantom and vice versa. With those thoughts in mind, Jason left his apartment and headed for the store.

...

That night, Phantom was on the roof when Jason got there at ten. He looked just as he had yesterday, but he was bouncing on the balls of his feet with pent up energy. 

“Here,” Jason said, tossing him a flip phone and a charger. Phantom caught it easily. 

“A phone?” Phantom asked, examining it. 

“Yeah,” Jason said. “In case we need to contact each other. If you’re going to be working for me, I want to be able to find you.” Phantom flipped the phone open and started pressing buttons. The matching one in Jason’s pocket started to ring. Jason raised an eyebrow but Phantom wouldn’t be able to see it under the helmet. 

“Really?” Jason asked, annoyed. 

“Just wanted to make sure it works,” Phantom explained, hanging up and shoving it into his pocket. 

“Well it works. Just keep it charged. I’m serious about wanting to be able to contact you. If something comes up and I need your help, I have to be able to talk to you,” Jason said, his tone serious.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Phantom said like a petulant teenager. Jason wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

“Anyway, I want you to keep an eye on the main streets tonight. I’ve got something near the docks I want to check out. Just take care of muggings and robberies. Leave drug deals alone unless they’re selling to kids. Then show no mercy. And keep an eye out for the working girls. I’ll let them know that you’re working for me now and they’ll spread the word around. They’re the best source of news and secrets in this city, so be nice to them, ya hear,” Jason said as though he was giving a briefing. 

“Sure,” Phantom said, that casual air never leaving him. 

“Alright, off with you,” Jason said. “Call me if anything major comes up. I’d hate to find you got yourself killed on the first night.” 

“On it. This isn’t my first rodeo,” Phantom said, and jumped to the roof across the street, a jump that not even Batman would have been able to make. 

“Show off,” Jason muttered before heading out on his own patrol. His first stop was to Honey and the others. 

...

Jason swung down to the street corner that the girls usually hung out at. Honey spotted him and greeted him with her usual kiss. 

“What’s up Hoodie, two meetings in a row is unusual," she said in a seductive voice, batting her eyelashes a little as she looked up at him.

“I found your ghost,” Jason said casually. 

“Oh did you, are the rumors true?” She asked, sidling up to him. 

“Which ones?” Jason asked, genuinely curious what else might be circulating about Phantom. 

“That he’s cute,” Honey said, in all seriousness. It made Jason pause. He hadn’t actually thought about it, and it was hard to tell with the blindfold. But Jason would say that he was actually cute, probably even Jason’s type. 

“Yeah, he’s cute,” Jason decided and Honey squealed. 

“So I take it you didn’t kill him?” she asked. 

“Naw, I hired him,” Jason said with a casual flip of his hand. He then took a bit of a more serious stance and told Honey, “but I do want you to do me a favor.” 

“Anything for you dear," she purred as she trailed her index finger down his muscled chest. 

“I want you to spread the word that Phantom is working for the Red Hood," he said in an even voice, unaffected by her caresses. 

“Phantom huh? That’s a nice name,” Honey said, looking a little lost in thought. 

“I guess,” Jason said, shrugging. “Also, keep an ear out for me. I don’t fully trust him yet. If you hear about him doing anything I wouldn’t do, would you let me know?” he asked.

“You want me to play babysitter?” she pouted. 

“I’ll pay you,” he offered. 

“Deal,” Honey said, sticking her hand out, palm up. Jason sighed and slapped a stack of bills into it. She shoved them into her boot and kissed him again. “Thanks Hood, now run along before you scare off all my customers for another night," she said as she turned him around and started to push on his back.

Jason did as he was told and left, using his grapple to pull him off his feet into the night. 

...

The rest of the night went smoothly. Jason was able to get some more recon done on the arms trade that was going through the docks, and when he came back to the narrows to snoop on Phantom, he found the guy in the middle of a brawl with three thugs in an alley. Jason watched in interest from his rooftop perch as Phantom dodged around the fists and blasted the brutes with beams of green energy that seemed to smoke and burn on their skin and clothes. He could throw a mean punch too. Jason saw teeth fly as Phantom’s fist connected. At one point, one of the thugs that Phantom had burned got back up and wrapped his arms around the meta, pinning his arms to his side. Rather than kicking his attacker in the nuts, or slamming the back of his head into his nose like Jason would have, Phantom turned translucent and just walked through the guys arms. The man was so stunned, he didn’t even try to block the boot to his face. 

In just a few moments, all three guys were turning tail and running. Phantom wiped the blood off his knuckles and looked up. 

“You enjoying the show?” Phantom called up. 

“Very,” Jason responded. Phantom grinned and jumped half way up the wall, where he kicked off again and launched himself onto Jason’s roof. It wasn’t something a human could pull off easily. 

“How’d the docks go?” Phantom asked. 

“Good,” Jason said, still impressed with Phantom’s jump. “So what exactly can you do?” he asked. Phantom grinned again, and Jason spotted the missing tooth again. It made him look adorable when he grinned, but Jason figured it’d look scary if he bared his teeth at anyone. 

“I’ve got a few tricks,” Phantom conceded. “Intangibility, enhanced jumping, my plasma blasts,” he counted off on his fingers. His voice still sounded rough, and Jason figured that was just how he sounded. “On good days I can make ice,” he added. 

“Ice?” Jason asked. “That’s not very ghostly.” 

“Sure it is. Ghost’s make rooms cold right?” Phantom gave him a shit eating grin.

“I don’t think that counts as ice,” Jason argued. 

“Whatever man, it’s still cool.” Phantom pouted. Jason stifled a laugh at the unintentional pun. 

“It’s getting late,” Jason changed the subject. “Before I forget, here.” Jason tossed him a wad of cash that Phantom easily caught. 

“What’s this for?” he asked, turning it over in his gloved hands. 

“Your pay for the week,” Jason said, already turning away and heading for home. 

“You’re paying me?” Phantom asked, confusion in his voice. Jason turned back.

“Yeah. It’s drug money, and weapon money. Basically shit I got from criminals I beat up. It’s a lot easier to live this life if you don’t have to have a day job. Even vigilantes gotta eat,” he said with a smirk. 

“Oh, yeah. Thanks!” Phantom grinned at him again and shoved the money into this pocket. 

“I’ll see ya tomorrow,” Jason said, turning away again and waving behind him. 

“See ya!” Phantom said, sounding excited.

Soon after that exchange Phantom and Hood left, leaving the rooftop empty once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, Pizza Party! Reviews fuel me!


	2. Brothers and Crushes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, thanks so much for all the support. It means the world to me. I'm not perfectly happy with this chapter, but I can't think of any way to change it, so hopefully it's okay.

“So he found it,” Jason mumbled to himself as he stared at his laptop. He’d come back home after patrol and the first thing he’d done was plop himself down on his couch and check to see if Phantom had found the bug he’d planted in the phone he’d given him. Since he was no longer receiving the bug’s signal, Phantom had clearly found and destroyed it. That was exactly what Jason had been hoping would happen. Phantom wasn’t dumb, and he didn’t trust Jason; exactly what he’d wanted. 

“So he’s not a complete moron,” he said to himself as he stretched and got up, heading for a shower. 

...

Later in the day, while he was sprawled on the couch with a bag of chips, he got a text from Tim.

Tim: How’d it go with Phantom?

Jason: Good, he found the bug, so he’s not a total moron.

Tim: That’s good. Are you going to try to plant another one on him?

Jason: Don’t know yet. Not sure what the point would be. 

Tim: To know his secret identity.

Jason: Yeah, but what’s the point? Not like knowing that would do me any good yet. If he starts acting suspicious I will, but for now…

Tim: Just be careful. 

Jason: Fine dad.

Tim: See you tomorrow?

Jason: Yeah yeah.

Jason ended the conversation by throwing the phone down next to him on the couch. He then continued to eat his bag of chips as he contemplated his first patrol with Phantom.

...

That night’s patrol went smoothly. Jason spent most of it tailing Phantom and watching while he handled the Narrows thugs. He was pretty sure Phantom knew he was watching him the whole time, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to hide from the guy; he always looked right where Jason was hiding after he stopped a mugging or scared off some crooks. About half way through the night, Jason gave up and headed out to the docks to scout some more. 

...

As he had found the night before, there were guards posted outside an abandoned warehouse. Whoever was running the operation wasn’t stupid though, the guards were disguised. They wore ratty old clothes and sat slumped against the building under dirty blankets. But Jason could see the edges of automatic guns poking out under the rags. The last time he was here, he’d snuck into the building to find no one home. But today, it looked like there were lights on inside. 

Sneaking around to the side of the building, Jason scrambled up the crumbling wall to a small window set near the roof. The glass had long ago been knocked out, so he grabbed onto the edge and slowly pulled himself up to look inside. 

‘Bingo,’ he thought to himself. Near a dozen men milled around the building, shifting the contents of crates into duffel bags. Jason caught the glint of weapons and grinned under his helmet. He knew this was going to be fun.

Quietly, he pulled himself through the window and into the rafters. Creeping along, he tried to find the leader of the group, but he didn’t seem to be in. With a sigh, Jason started to pull his guns out, when he got a better idea. Instead, he reached for his phone, and after making sure it was silenced, a pointless gesture as he’d already checked it three times before heading out, he texted Phantom.

Red Hood: Meet me at this address, we’ve got some gun smugglers to take out. Enter quietly. South side window.

Phantom: On my way.

And so, Jason settled down to wait. He didn’t have long, Phantom was there in ten minutes, climbing through the window with absolutely no sound and settling next to Jason in the rafters. 

“What do we do?” he whispered right near Jason’s ear. With all the clanging and bickering the men below were doing, there was no way they heard. 

“The leader isn’t here,” Jason explained. “We knock out all but one, and get that guy to tell us where to find his boss.” Phantom nodded and Jason pointed him to one end of the warehouse before climbing through the rafters to the other side. On his signal, they both dropped. 

“What the?!” a huge brute said just before Jason’s boot smashed into his face. A cry went up from the other side of the building and Jason just caught the edge of a green light. The warehouse doors behind Jason slammed open as the guards burst in.

“It’s the Red Hood!” one exclaimed before he got a rubber bullet to the knee. He went down with a cry as the bone shattered. Jason lunged behind a crate as the second man got his gun up and started firing wildly. One of his buddies cried out as he was caught by a stray bullet.

“Shit,” the guard said as he stopped firing, giving Jason the opening he needed to take out both his knees. Unfortunately, men can still shoot with shattered bones, and the first guard got out a handful of shots. One hit Jason square in the chest and knocked him flat on his back. It’d hit his Kevlar, so he’d be fine, but it still hurt like a bitch. Jason aimed a shot at the thug's hand from his place on the floor and heard the satisfying sound of fingers shattering. 

Jason launched himself back to his feet and whirled around, three more men had reached him, and all were holding weapons. Jason fired first. All three went down clutching broken hands, and knees, and shoulders. Jason ran over them, not caring what, or who, he crushed under boot and came upon another two men. They were facing toward him, weapons raised, and Jason caught sight of Phantom running into view behind them. The men fired at Jason and he nodded to Phantom before he dove behind a support column. There was the sound of a boot hitting flesh and a green flash of light, and the gun fire stopped. 

Jason came out from behind the pillar. Phantom stood over the men, a grin on his face that was anything but cute. There was a spray of blood across his face that Jason didn’t think was his, and his fists were still clenched at his sides. 

“Did you leave any conscious enough to talk?” Jason asked, and Phantom's grin only widened as he gave him his answer. 

“Over here.” Phantom waved Jason behind a pile of boxes to a man sitting on the floor, encased up to his chin in ice. Jason whistled.

“So you weren’t kidding about the ice,” he said. The thug looked at Jason and Phantom and tried to sneer, but his teeth were chattering so badly it just looked silly. Jason knelt next to the trapped man and put his gun to the guy’s temple.

“Now you’re going to tell us who you work for, or I’ll leave you here to get frostbite on your...,” at this Jason purposely turned his head down, looking at the guy’s lap. The thug got the message.

“His name’s Dug, he likes to hang out at that strip club on Barrow Row. That’s all I know! I ran into him there and he offered me the gig! That’s all I know I swear!” the thug squeaked out. Jason just sighed and stood up.

“Unfortunately, I believe you,” Jason said, and he turned to walk away.

“Wait! You gotta get me out of here!” the thug pleaded.

“Don’t worry, the cop’s will be along soon to thaw you out!” Jason called over his shoulder. He didn’t check to see if Phantom was following.

...

“What now?” Phantom asked as they stood on the roof of a nearby building and watched the cops drag the men away.

“Now, you go back to patrol and I go find this Dug guy,” Jason said with authority. Just then an alarm went off in his helmet, it was reminding him that it was 4am. “Tomorrow. For now, get some rest. I might be a bit late tonight. Just start without me.” Phantom nodded. 

“See ya tomorrow Hood,” Phantom said with a salute, and headed off to god knows where.

“See ya,” Jason said into empty air before he headed for his nearest safe house.

Normally Jason would have said dammit to sleep and tracked this Dug down right then and there, but it was Friday. Tim and Damian would kill him if he overslept their movie night. Sometimes having brothers was a pain.

...

Jason was at his counter kneading the pizza dough when his front door opened and Tim and Damian walked in. Those two never bothered to knock and just picked his lock, disabled his traps, and wandered in.

“You know you don’t have to break in to see me anymore. I will let you in,” Jason said without pausing his work.

“I know,” Tim said, plopping himself on the bar stool across the counter from Jason. “But my way is much more fun.”

“And good practice,” Damian said from where he’d plunked himself down at the table and started to fiddle with Jason’s half built bombs. “You need it Drake.” Tim ignored this slight and pulled out a tablet and started typing away. 

“Bruce got delayed,” Tim said. “He won’t be back till next Friday now. That gives you a few more days with Phantom.”

“I demand to know more about this Phantom,” Damian said without looking up from his tinkering. “What Drake has told me is not enough to judge his worthiness to protect this city or his ability to do so.”

“What do you want to know?” Jason asked as he put the dough away and got out an onion and knife and began dicing.

“What fighting styles does he know? How many men can he take on his own? What weapons can he use? What...,” Damian asked all these questions in rapid succession.

“Slow down Bat brat, I’ve only known him for three days,” Jason interrupted. “And as far as your questions, his fighting style is dirty, I’ve seen him take six men easy, and his only weapons are his fists and powers.”

“So he has no formal training? Tt,” Damian said with a scowl.

“Meta’s are different from us Dammie. They’ve got abilities we could never hope to have," Tim said with a lecturing note to his voice.

“That is no excuse for a lack of formal training,” Damian argued as he got up from the table and joined them at the counter, his feet dangling from the tall stool. “What should happen if he loses his powers or is unable to use them?” he asked a bit patronizingly.

“He doesn’t just use his powers,” Jason cut in. “He’s not too bad with his fists.”

“Have you spared with him?” Damian asked. 

“No,” Jason admitted.

“Then you are no fair judge of his prowess.” Damian sat quietly and thought for a moment before declaring, “I wish to meet this Phantom and test his abilities myself. You will introduce me tonight Todd.”

“Damian,” Jason started with a growl.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Tim cut in. “If he’s going to work in Gotham, we might as well know him.” 

“I agree,” Damian said. “He could be a worthy ally, but we won’t know that until he is tested properly.”

“Fine,” Jason said,and threw his onions and some garlic in a pan of oil. “I’ll take you two to meet him tonight, but then you have to get your butts back to your regular patrol. My terf is full enough with him. I don’t need you running around the Narrows too.”

“Fair enough,” Tim agreed amiably.

“After I’ve had a chance to spar with him and test his abilities,” Damian argued.

“Where are you going to spar? There isn’t a safe place to do that around here,” Jason asked as he pulled a tray of roasted tomatoes out of the oven and dumped them into a blender. 

“It wouldn’t do to take him to the cave,” Damian yelled over the blender. “But I am confident there is an abandoned warehouse on the docks that would suit our needs.”

“What?” Jason said as he turned off the blender. He’d heard Damian, but he wanted to make the brat repeat himself. 

“I said,” Jason turned the blender back on and Damian glared at him. Tim snorted and Jason gave them both a shit eating grin before turning off the blender again and dumping the pureed tomatoes into the pan with the onions. 

“I heard you Dames, warehouse at the docks. I know one that might work. Probably gotta shove some crap out of the way though,” Jason said as he stirred the tomatoes in the pan. 

“You can do that Jason,” Tim said with a mischievous smirk. “All those damn muscles have got to be good for something.” Jason was very tempted to pick Tim and throw him out the window to prove what ‘all those muscles’ could do, but he was too busy grating cheese. So instead he said, “If you want pizza you better shut your trap.” Tim made a show of zipping his mouth shut and went back to his tablet.

“Anything else happening with you two?” Jason asked before the following silence could drag on.

“One of my teachers gave me a failing grade for my essay in history because it was written in Latin,” Damian said matter of factly.

“Why did you write it in Latin?” Jason asked, bewildered. 

“Because the directions were to write a historically accurate account of the day in the life of a Roman citizen, and they spoke Latin. It’s not my fault the directions were unclear and the teacher can not read Latin,” Damian muttered, annoyed.

“Most people can’t read Latin,” Tim put in. 

“Well I could speak fluent Latin by the time I was three. I don’t see why I was failed because I have knowledge he doesn’t," he deadpanned.

“Why don’t you just translate it into English and resubmit it?” Jason said, chopping up some bell peppers. 

“Because the teacher has insisted on speaking with father first, and father isn’t here,” Damian pouted. Tim attempted to pat Damian’s shoulder but was shrugged off.

“Eh, don’t worry about it kid,” Jason said. “Daddy dearest will talk to them and maybe you won’t have to translate it for their lesser minds.”

“I already translated it,” Damian grumbled. “And I am not a child!” he raged.

“Dick keeps asking about you,” Tim changed the subject before Damian decided to lunge across the counter and attack Jason for his insolence.

“Ughhh,” Jason groaned as he tossed a pizza crust into the air. “Please tell me you didn’t commit me to anything.”

“I keep telling him he has to call you himself.” Jason nodded at this. “But he says you never answer your phone.”

“Maybe that’s because I don’t walk to talk to him,” Jason said firmly. He put the crust onto a stone in the oven and ladled his sauce over it, followed by cheese, and bell peppers before he slammed the oven door harder than necessary. Tim took the hint. And a long awkward silence followed. 

“Sooo,” Tim started. “You meet any cute girls lately?”

“What are you doing Tim,” Jason asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

“Small talk?” Tim tried, with a cheesy smile. 

“Well it was a sorry attempt,” Damian said, fiddling with a batarang he’d pulled out of his pocket. “You sound like Grayson. Besides, Todd doesn’t even like women.”

“What?” Tim said, going wide eyed at Damian.

“Damian,” Jason warned. Damian ignored him and continued, “Todd is a homosexual.” He looked at Tim like the teen should know this.

“You’re gay!?” Tim exclaimed, turning an accusatory glare on Jason. Jason sighed and pressed a hand against his face, confirmation enough for Tim.

“Since when?” Tim asked, sounding a little hurt. 

“One does not just start being homosexual,” Damian said flatly. “You are born that way.”

“I know that,” Tim said, waving Damian away. “I meant how long have you known?” He directed this question at Jason. 

“I don’t know!” Jason threw his hands up. “Last year I guess. I never really had much time to think about it before.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tim asked, hurt. “And why does he know?” he pointed a finger at Damian that the child smacked away.

“I don’t know Tim, it never came up with you before, and Damian…” Jason trailed off, a little embarrassed about explaining this part. 

“It was my fault,” Damian said, startling both of his brothers. Damian never admitted when he was in the wrong. “I entered Jason’s house when he was fornicating with...”

“Damian!” Jason exclaimed, slamming his hands on the counter in front of the boy while his face turned beet red.

“He walked in on you having sex?!” Tim said shrilly, also turning red. Damian shrugged. 

“It’s a natural desire to want to relive yourself with your preferred partner, ” Damian said stoically. 

“Okay, change of subject!” Jason said loudly. Damian glared at him.

“I only mean that it does not bother me who you want to be with,” Damian said, trying to get his point across.

“Nope! We are done talking about this!” Jason turned to the oven and removed the pizza with a large paddle and set it on the cutting board. He started preparing another ball of dough.

“You two go sit your asses down on the couch and start the movie. Now!” he added when both of them just stared at him. They scrambled off the stools and started fighting over what movie to watch while Jason took several deep breaths. 

...

Several hours later, they all met up on what had become Jason and Phantom’s usual roof. 

“Phantom, this is Red Robin and Robin,” Jason said in the least annoyed voice he could manage. Neither of his brothers had dropped the gay thing and kept trying to bring it up while they watched Die Hard, and Jason had been unable to enjoy one of his favorite movies. Now Jason’s patience had worn completely thin with them.

“Nice to meet you,” Red Robin said. “We’ve heard a lot about you from Red Hood.”

“I can’t say the same for you,” Phantom said, but he shook the hand Red Robin offered. He turned to Robin who had his hands behind his back and was looking at Phantom like one might a used car, looking for flaws. 

“Red Hood has informed me that you do not appear to have any formal combat training,” he said.

“Uhhh. No. I’m self taught,” Phantom said, looking confused. Robin nodded solemnly. 

“I am going to spar with you to see if you are worthy to work with Red Hood,” Robin declared.

“Spar?” Phantom asked, cocking his head.

“Do you mean you do not know what sparring is?” Robin asked, a disbelieving note in his voice.

“Oh, no it’s not that,” Phantom said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. It was a gesture Jason was beginning to recognize as meaning he was uncomfortable. Having a four foot tall personality like Robin judging you would make anyone uncomfortable. “I’ve just never sparred with someone before. My fights have always been, well, real.” Robin seemed to consider this.

“I do not think you will be able to hurt me,” he decided. “Come, I have had Red Hood prepare a place for us.” And with that, Robin turned and grappled away, toward the warehouse they had prepared. 

“Sorry about him,” Red Robin said. “He had a weird childhood,” he explained before following after Robin. Phantom turned toward Jason with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“Come on,” Jason said. “They won’t leave us alone until we do what they want.”

...

Phantom and Robin circled each other, looking for an opening. Jason and Red Robin watched from the top of a pile of crates that Jason had moved out of the way, thank you very much. Phantom and Robin had already exchanged several blows, mostly ending with Phantom dancing out of the way, his feet barely touching the floor. 

“Come on!” Robin taunted. “You can’t take down your opponent if you never strike!”

“And you can’t take down yours if you can’t hit them!” Phantom called back. He was starting to get surprisingly quippy. 

Robin lunged and Phantom danced out of the way again, but Robin had been expecting this and he whirled and punched Phantom square in the gut, or he would have, but his fist went right through the meta. It was the first time he’d visibly used his powers against Robin, and it was enough of a shock to the boy for Phantom to grab his wrist and spin him around. Robin flew toward the wall, but managed to twist in the air like a cat. His feet struck the wall and he leapt off, grabbing Phantom around the waist and carrying him to the ground. He pinned him and Phantom panted underneath him.

“You are not a bad fighter, but you rely too heavily on your powers,” Damian said matter of factly. He got up off the older guy and offered a hand to pull him to his feet. Phantom didn’t take it and hauled himself up. Jason noticed he limped for a second on his right leg as he stood, but a moment later was walking back to the center of the room just fine. He got back into a fighting stance and Damian obliged. 

...

Jason woke to the sound of noise in the apartment below his. It sounded like someone was moving furniture, which was strange because no one lived there. Jason rolled over and groaned into his pillow. Great, he had a new neighbor. He tried to ignore the noise and go back to sleep. 

...

A few hours later, Jason left his apartment and headed downstairs. He needed to go shopping; Damian and Tim had cleared him out on soda and ice cream the night before. They always filled up on sugar at his place since Alfred rarely let the stuff into the manor. Jason paused on the fourth floor landing; someone was standing outside the apartment door, digging through his pockets and cursing.

“Hey, you good?” Jason asked. The guy turned and looked at him. He was the cutest person Jason had ever seen. Raven black hair fell into ice blue eyes. He was lanky, but built, shorter than Jason. He was wearing ill fitting jeans with holes in the knees, a t-shirt with some band logo on it, and a pair of worn boots. There were scars up both his arms; self harm scars if Jason knew anything, but they had to be several years old. They guy smiled shyly at Jason, showing off a pair of perfectly straight teeth. 

“I uh, locked my keys in my apartment,” he explained, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. 

“Oh, that sucks,” Jason managed to say. 

“I just moved in,” the guy explained. “You must live above me. I’m Danny.” Danny stuck his hand out. Jason shook it, noting the calluses on his hands. 

“I’m Jason. Is your window unlocked?” he asked.

“What?” Danny asked, confused. 

“I might know how to get your keys if your window is unlocked,” Jason explained. He knew he could pick Danny’s lock in seconds, but that wasn’t something most people would know how to do, and he didn’t want his adorable new neighbor knowing he could break in any time he wanted.

“Uh, I think it is?” Danny said, looking back at his door like it might tell him.

“Well let’s find out,” Jason said, walking back up to his apartment and gesturing for Danny to follow. He hurried up the stairs to disarm his door before Danny could see, and managed to have the door open before Danny rounded the corner. He threw a worried glance at his bomb building table, but he’d set his backpack on it and it obscured most of the project. Danny came into the apartment behind him and closed the door.

“You’ve got this place set up a lot nicer than mine,” he said, a little envy in his voice. 

“Yeah, I’ve got a decent job,” Jason said, going to his window and opening it. He stood in front of it waiting as Danny slowly made his way over, admiring the full bookcases and the replica weapons on the way. Jason noted how he limped on his right leg, an old injury perhaps? 

“Is that?” he asked, pointing to a sword. 

“Sting?”Jason finished the question. 

“Yeah, from the Lord of the Rings,” Danny said, excitement in his eyes.

“Yup,” Jason said. Danny grinned at him and Jason felt a flutter in his chest. Fuck he was adorable. 

“Come on,” Jason said, stepping out the window onto the fire escape. “Let’s see if we can break into your apartment.”

Danny followed him down the narrow steps. When Jason reached Danny’s window, he pressed his palms against the glass and simultaneously put pressure on the window and pushed up. The glass slid up and Jason got his fingers under it and opened it the rest of the way. 

“There you are,” he said, making a grander gesture with his arms. 

“Woah, thanks,” Danny said. “I should probably start locking that if it’s so easy to open it from the outside,” he said, a bit embarrassed. 

“Yeah, you should. And not lock your keys inside again,” he added playfully. 

“Yeah, thanks again,” Danny said as he ducked inside. “I’ll uh, see you around I guess.” Danny looked at him hopefully.

“Sure,” Jason said, determining that he would find a way to make that happen. Danny nodded and closed the window. Jason couldn’t see into the apartment because the thick curtains blocked his view. He sighed deeply and climbed back up the fire escape to his window. Jason had to find a way to get to know this guy, because god dammit Jason wanted him more than he’d wanted anything in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! I'm curious what you all think of Danny and Jason's reaction to him. Please review! It makes my day.


	3. Am I Making a Mistake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just wanted to let you know, Jason is 21 and Danny is 19. Tim is 17 and Damian is 12. A few of you have pointed out the fact that Phantom has scars on his neck and is missing a tooth while Danny isn’t, and I just wanted to say that is on purpose. It’s not a writing mistake. Thanks so much for the support, enjoy.

Jason stood out on the fire escape smoking. It’d been a rough night. The name the thug in the warehouse had given him, Dug, hadn’t led Jason anywhere. No one at the strip club knew who he was talking about. He hadn’t even had a chance to meet up with Phantom, just sent him a text and got to work. Jason blew out a cloud of smoke and sighed. He didn’t smoke as much as he used to under the influence of the pit, but after a frustrating night, he needed the dose of nicotine. 

A noise startled Jason out of his thoughts. The window below him was opening, and Danny climbed out into the crisp autumn air. He had a glass bottle in his hand which he sipped from as he sat down, his legs dangling between the bars. Danny looked up and grinned tiredly at Jason, the bags under his eyes were a stark contrast against his pale skin.

“Morning,” he said, attempting to be cheerful, but he sounded tired.

“Morning,” Jason offered back. “A little early for alcohol isn’t it?” Danny looked thoughtfully at the bottle and Jason could see it was cider. 

“I work overnight,” Danny explained. “This is technically my evening.” Jason hummed in understanding.

“I’m in the same boat,” he shared.

“You work third shift too?” Danny asked.

“Yup,” Jason said, popping the P. 

“Well at least I won’t have to worry about you stomping on my ceiling when I’m trying to sleep,” Danny offered with another grin. Jason laughed softly.

“Same here. I was actually worried you’d keep me up all day” Jason admitted. Danny laughed softly. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. 

“Hey,” Danny said softly and Jason looked back down at him. “You want one?” he asked, holding out his cider. 

“Sure,” Jason agreed, and Danny got to his feet and climbed through his window. He came back out a moment later with two fresh ciders and scaled the narrow steps up to Jason. He handed him the bottle and plopped down, sticking his legs through the bars again to swing them. Jason sat down with his back against the wall, his legs half stretched out in front of him. Danny’s back was mostly to him as he watched the early morning clouds trudge lazily through the sky, leaving Jason free to stare. Despite the chill, Danny’s arms were bare, showing off the cross hatch of scars. He didn’t seem ashamed of them. Danny turned to look at him and caught him staring. 

“Yeah, I had a rough go of it in my teens,” he said, nodding to his arms. “I’ve thought about getting tattoos to cover them, but then I’d be even more unemployable.” He laughed at his own self deprecating joke.

“You can’t seriously be discriminated for them?” Jason asked incredulously. Danny shrugged. 

“Not legally maybe, but people stare. And no one really wants someone who looks so unstable serving your food or handling your groceries," he said flatly.

“You could get some kick ass sleeves and get a job bartending,” Jason offered. Danny snorted. “Or really any job around here. The low income areas of Gotham aren’t picky.” 

“Yeah,” Danny laughed. “I think the guy who made me a sandwich the other day was more inked up than an excon.” 

“Pretty sure our landlord used to work for the mafia,” Jason offered. They both snickered at this. A comfortable silence stretched as they drank their ciders; Jason finished his cigarette. 

“Well,” Danny said, using the railing to pull himself to his feet. “This has been really nice, but I need to go to sleep.”

“Me too,” Jason said and started to get up. Danny offered him a hand and Jason accepted, using it to haul his tired body up. “Thanks for the cider,” Jason said with a small half smile.

“Any time,” Danny said, with a smile of his own, and then went back down to his window. Once Jason had watched him climb inside and heard the sound of the latch being locked, he climbed back into his own apartment and got ready for bed.

...

That night, Phantom was waiting for him on their regular roof. 

“No birds tonight?” he asked, a note of relief in his voice. 

“No, thank God. I can only handle so much of them,” Jason growled. Phantom laughed. 

“Yeah, Robin really put me through the ringer. I didn’t know someone that small could be so damn mean,” Phantom mock complained. Jason snorted. 

“You don’t know the half of it. I’m pretty sure that was him trying to be nice,” Jason said, his shark tooth grin clear in his voice.

“Nice?!” Phantom exclaimed in horror.

“Yeah, he was trying to show you what your weaknesses were so you could fix them,” he said with an air of mock wisdom.

“Then I sure as hell don’t want to piss him off,” Phantom said with a shudder.

“Definitely not,” Jason agreed. Phantom shook his head slowly.

“Did you find your weapons dealer last night?” Phantom asked. 

“No,” Jason sighed. “And I don’t have any more leads. I’ll check with some of my informants tonight, see if they know anything.”

“You want me to watch the streets?” Phantom asked.

“Yeah. I’ll let you know if I need help with anything,” Jason said. Phantom went off across the roofs, and Jason turned toward the unpleasant task of research. He was starting to regret letting Phantom take care of the small fry. He could use a good fight to get out his frustration. 

...

That night was another bust. Jason had checked with several of his informants, moles in various crime families and drug rings, but no hits on the name Dug or any information on the new weapons smuggling operation. Jason was starting to go crazy. He hadn’t made up that fight in the warehouse, Phantom had been there! But when Jason went back to scan for more clues, the place was trashed. The cops hadn’t left anything workable behind. Frustrated and pissed, Jason texted Phantom. 

Red Hood: More dead ends here, how goes the patrol?

Phantom: if u free need help.

Red Hood: Where?

Phantom texted him an address. 

Red Hood: On my way. What’s the situation?

Phantom: Bad guy chasing kids. Beat the crap out of him. Now they in gap won’t come out. Don’t trust me.

Red Hood: I’ll be there in a sec.

Jason tucked his phone away and rolled his eyes; Phantom was a horrible texter. 

…

Jason found the meta crouched down in front of a tiny gap between two buildings, too small for even his narrow frame to fit into. Phantom stood up when he caught sight of Jason and took a few steps away from the buildings. 

“They’re really scared, and I think one of them is hurt,” Phantom explained in hushed tones. “They don’t want to trust me enough to come out.” Jason nodded and placed his hand on Phantom’s shoulder, moving him out of the way. He knelt down in front of the gap. Peering into the darkness, he could make out the forms of two kids, their bright eyes gleaming with the feral look of a rough life on the streets. 

“Do two know who I am?” Jason asked gently. 

“You’re the Red Hood,” one of them stated, matter of factly. Jason nodded and reached up to unlatch his helmet. He took it off and set it on the ground, letting the kids see his face. He still wore a domino mask underneath, but he’d found most people trusted him more when they could see his expression. 

“If you know that you should also know I don’t hurt kids,” he said, still gently. He watched as their eyes scanned his face, looking for lies, and then darted to something over his head. Jason looked up and caught Phantom ducking back out of sight. He held in a sigh and turned back to the frightened kids. 

“Don’t worry about him,” he explained. “That’s just Phantom. He works for me.”

“They say he’s a ghost,” the other one said, voice shaking. 

“Him? Naw. He’s just a punk. He’s not going to hurt you. Believe me, if he tried that would make him a bad guy right?” Jason said with warmth in his voice.

“And Red Hood gets rid of bad guys,” the first one said. Jason smiled at them. 

“Yup. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Now why don’t you come on out of there and I’ll buy you some dinner? Maybe we can even get that cut looked at,” he nodded to the second one's leg, where he could see an old cut festering, probably what Phantom had been talking about. They seemed to perk up at the prospect of food, but still they didn’t move. 

“You won’t rat us out to the cops will you?” the first one, the one Jason was starting to think was the older one, asked. He still couldn’t tell if they were boys or girls, they were too young and too dirty to tell from where he crouched. 

“I’m not a snitch,” Jason snorted, sounding like the very idea insulted him. The older kid nodded, and helped the smaller one scramble out of where they’d wedged themselves. Jason fell back to give them plenty of space, but not enough that he couldn’t stop them if they bolted. 

Once they were out in the light of the street lamps, Jason could see the one he’d taken for older was a boy, and the smaller one he supported seemed to be his little sister. They couldn’t have been older than seven or eight. They both eyed Phantom warily. 

“You really work for Red Hood?” the boy asked.

“Yeah,” Phantom said, crouching down to get on their level. “He lets me help him fight bad guys and keep the Narrows safe.” The boy seemed satisfied with this and turned his attention back to Jason who was examining his sister's wound.

The girl had a nasty looking cut on her leg that did indeed seem infected. Jason worried his lip as he looked at it. 

“Is it bad?” she asked him in a quiet voice. 

“Yeah,” Jason confirmed. “But I know someone who can make it better,” he explained. The kids looked wary, like they might bolt and he quickly added, “she won’t snitch on you either. I promise.” After another back and forth conversation where it was revealed that the girls leg hurt to walk on, both kids agreed to let Jason carry her. He left his helmet off as they walked the several blocks to Doctor Leslie Tompkin’s free clinic, the girl in one arm, and his helmet in the other. 

…

With all the running around Jason had done, and then coaxing the kids out, time seemed to have slipped away from them, and it was already past 6am. It was still earlier than the clinic opened, but when Jason knocked on the glass door, Tompkins looked up from the papers she was sorting behind the front desk and narrowed a look at him. Jason figured if he didn’t have a dirty and frightened kid in his arms, she probably would have glared at him. But as it was, she came over and unlocked the door for them. 

“Well Hood, who have you brought me today?” she asked, casting a suspicious look at Phantom over Jason’s shoulder before smiling gently at the two kids. 

“I hurt my leg,” the girl bravely explained before Jason had a chance. 

“Did you now?” Thompkins asked softly. “Well why don’t you four come inside and we’ll see if we can make it better?” 

She let them in and locked the door back behind them. She led them back into a private room and Jason whispered to Phantom to go down the street and get some food for the kids, partly because he’d promised the kids food and didn’t want them to bolt before he made good on the offer, and partly because Phantom was still unnerving them.

Jason waited patiently with the kids while Thompkins looked them over and decided that the cut was infected, but not too badly. She gave the girl a shot that she held very still for while her brother held her hand. She cleaned and bandaged the cut and told the kids to come back in a few days so she could look at it again. They led the kids back into the lobby where Phantom had two take home containers of pancakes and the kids sat down in the waiting area chairs to dig in. Phantom kept an eye on them while Thompkins pulled Jason into her office. Phantom eyed him as they passed by, but Jason waved him off. 

Once they were behind the door Thomkpins glared at him. 

“What?” Jason asked, defensive. 

“Who’s the new kid?” she asked like this was obvious. 

“You mean Phantom? I don’t know, some meta who showed up last week. I’m letting him work for me," he said as if it was an afterthought. 

“So he’s the meta I’ve been hearing about? The one people have been comparing to a ghost?” She glanced at the door behind Jason like she might see the guy through it. 

“Yeah, but he’s not a ghost as far as I can tell. Just has some ghost-like powers.” Jason waved his hand in a so so gesture. 

“Like what?” she asked curiously.

“Intangibility, and some disregard for gravity,” Jason said. 

“I’ve heard about energy beams,” Thompkins chided.

“Yeah yeah, he’s got those too. Look, why don’t you just talk to him instead of playing twenty questions with me?” Jason said shortly. He didn’t mean to sound aggravated, but it’d been a long night and his temper was thin. Thompkins glared at him again but didn’t argue, shouldering past him and heading out into the lobby. The kids were gone and Phantom was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“Sorry, they bolted when you left,” he said. Jason groaned and scrubbed his hands through his hair. 

“So you’re Phantom?” Tompkins said. “I’m Dr. Thompkins. I run this free clinic. I patch up a lot of the heroes we’ve got running around this city so if you ever need anything feel free to drop in. It’s a strict neutral zone in my doors though, so don’t bring your fights here, understood?” she said with a friendly but on nonsense tone.

“Uhh,” Phantom managed, shocked stupid by the command in her tone. Jason nodded exaggeratedly behind her back at him. 

“Of course. Thanks for the offer,” Phantom managed. Thompkins nodded approvingly at him. 

“So I hear you’re a meta,” she said. “I know this is a bit forward, but I’ve been attempting to run a private study on metahumans. I don’t suppose you would help me with it. I’d only need a few vials of your blood.” Phantom jerked away violently at this request even though she was still several feet away from him. He stammered dumbly for several seconds before he managed, “No thanks. I’m good. Sorry. But I uh, really need to be getting home. It’s late.” And with that, he ran for it, not even bothering to open the door and instead just phasing through it. 

“Well that was odd,” Thompkins said. 

“You scared him off. Maybe you came on too strong,” Jason grinned at her. She glared back at him. 

“Wipe that smile off your face and get your ass out of here Hood. Shouldn’t you be in bed by now,” she said, aggravated.

“Fine mom,” he taunted as she shooed him out.

...

An hour later, Jason stood on his fire escape, smoking again. He’d thought a bit about the reaction Phantom had had to Thompkins request for blood the whole way over to his safe house and then to his apartment and he couldn’t puzzle it out. His best guess was he’d had a bad run in with a doctor or doctor type before. It wasn’t unheard of for metas to be illegally experimented on. It might even explain the scarring on his neck, the ones that looked almost like surgery scars.

Danny’s window opening jarred him out of his thoughts. Those blue eyes looked up at him as he held up two bottles of cider. 

“Want one?” he asked with a smile.

Jason grinned. “Hell yeah.” 

...

“Hood! On your right!” Phantom called as a thug ran out of the shadows and swung a table leg at Jason’s head. Jason ducked and kicked the man’s legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the asphalt. His head bounced and he didn’t get back up. 

“Thanks!” Jason called over his shoulder where Phantom was trying to subdue another drunk brawler. A bar fight had gotten out of hand and spilled into the street. Phantom and Red Hood were trying to break it up, but seeing the vigilantes had apparently angered the bar patrons even more. 

“You’d think drunks would be easier to fight,” Phantom called as he danced out of the way of a knife. “But they are way more reckless!” 

“Why are you trying not to hurt them?” Jason called as he watched Phantom try to wrestle the knife out of his attacker’s hand instead of just knocking him to the ground. 

“Cause he’s drunk! He’s not all there right now,” he shouted back.

“I’ll show you who’s not all there,” the drunk slurred. “Some out of town twink who thinks he can tell us Gotham natives how to do our business!” He threw Phantom off and slashed out with the knife again. Jason watched as Phantom threw up his arms to protect his head and the knife gashed a six inch long cut into his arm. Jason's vision swam with green as he kicked the last of his opponents in the crotch, sending the man to his knees. He yanked his gun out and shot at the ground. The rubber bullet bounced off and hit Phantom’s attacker in his chest, knocking the wind out of him. 

Phantom’s form flickered as he seemed to be turning intangible and back again. Jason touched him and the flickering stopped. He examined the wound. Red blood flecked with green was soaking into Phantom’s hoodie. Jason picked the knife up off the ground where it’d been dropped and looked at it. Nothing on the blade would explain the green in the cut. 

“What’s with the green?” Jason asked.

“Part of my mutation,” Phantom explained, yanking his arm out of Jason’s grip. “It’s normal.”

“You need stitches,” he said, concerned.

“I’ve got it,” Phantom said as he turned to walk away. 

“Giving yourself stitches sucks. Let me do it Phantom.” Jason took several fast steps to catch up and place a hand on Phantom’s shoulder. The meta shrugged him off. 

“I said I’ve got it Hood. Leave me alone!” Phantom yelled, sounding panicked. He ran straight up a wall and out of sight. Jason swore and stomped back to the bar, kicking the man who was still laying on his back panting from the bullet to his gut as he passed, and stuck his head into the bar. The bartender was just standing up from where she’d taken refuge behind the counter. 

“You good? Need me to call the cops?” Jason asked.

“No, I’ve got it. Thanks Red Hood,” she said with an air of professionalism like this was a regular occurance. Jason nodded and headed out. He glared again at the jerk who’d hurt Phantom. He wished that kicking him some more would fix the problem, but the meta had already bolted. 

‘Dammit all,’ Jason thought to himself as he grappled up to a roof to continue his patrol alone. He didn’t know what the hell had happened. Phantom had been holding back for some reason, showing an unwillingness to hurt the drunk that he’d never shown before. And then he’d been hurt, but not badly enough to warrant running off to lick his wounds. He’d bolted like something had spooked him. Jason didn’t understand it. And then there was that moment where it looked like his powers had been glitching. He shook his head to clear it. There wasn’t anything to be done about it now, and he still had several hours before he could call it quits and go home. 

...

A while later as he was circling around the city, a voice spoke through his helmet. 

“Hey Hood, how’s it going?” said the female voice.

“Hey Oracle. Is something wrong?” Jason asked, pausing his movement to eye up a particularly large gap between roofs. 

“Not exactly,” Oracle started. “It’s just, I’ve heard about your new partner.”

“He just works for me,” Jason clarified, not even bothering to ask how she’d heard about Phantom. Oracle had eyes and ears everywhere. She’d probably know about him for days, and was only just now bringing it up. 

“Whatever you say,” she agreed. “Are you considering bringing him into the fold?” she asked, getting straight to the point. 

“It’s too early to say,” Jason said. He considered what had just happened and added, “I think he might be unstable.”

“Mentally or physically?” she asked. Jason could hear her typing away.

“Both I think,” he said.

Jason had never really had a beef with Barbara. She’d been screwed over by the joker same as him, and by that logic she’d been screwed over by Batman’s inability to put that clown down. They had enough in common to not be at each other's throats, and while Jason had been hesitant to let someone as powerful as her have a line into his systems, her advice and hacking prowess had saved him more than once. 

“Do you want me to look into him? See if I can find any record of how he got his powers?” she offered. Jason hummed, considering. He hadn’t been working with the guy long, just over a week now, and in that time he’d started to rely on the guy. This had been the first time he’d up and abandoned Jason, unless you counted that incident with Thompkins a few days ago, and Jason didn’t. But Phantom had been off all night. 

“Yeah,” Jason decided. “See what you can find.”

“Any idea where I should start looking?” she asked. 

“Try meta experimentation projects,” he said. 

“You think someone experimented on him?” she asked, concerned. 

“Just a hunch,” he explained. He didn’t really want to invade the guy's privacy like this, but Bruce would be home in a few days, and once he got wind of Phantom, he’d dig up whatever he could on the meta. It was better if Jason beat him to it. 

“Okay, I’ll let you know what I find,” Oracle said, cutting off the line. Jason made a few more laps around the Narrows before turning for home. 

...

Jason stood on the fire escape waiting. He had a cigarette in his hand, but he wasn’t smoking it. It was just an excuse to be out here. Every morning since that first time, he and Danny had met out here and shared a drink. They’d talked about all sorts of stuff. It turned out Danny was as much of a nerd as Jason was. They’d both avoided their pasts, darkness clearly lurked in both and it wasn’t something either of them were ready to broach. Instead they chatted about books and movies. Danny was a huge fan of video games, something Jason had never really had a chance to get into, but the passion that Danny talked about them with made him want to try them. And Danny would listen while Jason went on about his favorite authors and why they were overlooked or why others were overrated. They’d developed something like friendship. 

But now, Danny was late. It wasn’t like they’d ever made these meetings official, but still, Danny had never been this late before. Something was starting to gnaw in Jason’s chest, but he couldn’t identify it. Worry? Or fear? Had Danny gotten bored of him? Was he mad at him? Had he said something yesterday to piss him off? Jason stubbed out his unsmoked cigarette in frustration. Dammit, why was he so obsessed? He looked down at the window below his for a long moment before turning around and going inside. 

He paced back and forth for a while, debating with himself. It was dangerous to get close to people, eventually you had to push them away, to protect yourself. But maybe Danny would understand. Maybe this time it would be different. Jason growled at himself and pulled on his hair. 

He marched into the bathroom and splashed water on his face. He glared at himself in the mirror, his blue eyes tinged with green from his dip in the pit. He scrubbed out the temporary dye that masked the white streak in his hair. He didn’t know why he didn’t dye it permanently black, but something always stopped him. He tried to distract himself by picking up all the clothes he’d left in the bathroom and carrying them to the hamper in his bedroom, but it didn’t work. He couldn’t get his mind off of Danny. Finally, he marched to his door, out of his apartment and went downstairs. 

He stood in front of Danny’s door for a long time, debating with himself before he changed his mind and started to turn around. He knew this was a mistake. He stopped when he heard the door open. 

“Jason?” Danny asked softly. Jason whirled. 

“Uh hey, I was uh, gonna ask you something,” Jason stammered, unsure if he really wanted to go through with this. Danny opened his door further and Jason got his first good look into the apartment. It was the same floor plan as his own and sparsely furnished. All of the furniture looked like it had either come from thrift stores or ikea. But Jason hardly paid that any mind when he noticed how awful Danny looked. 

The bags under his eyes were worse than normal, and he was disheveled. His hair was sticking up all over the place and he wore an oversized hoodie and sweatpants; his feet were bare. Jason had never seen Danny cover his arms, even as the days got colder, but he hadn’t really known the guy long so maybe that wasn’t a fair judgment. 

“Are... you okay?” Jason asked, not the question he’d come to ask, but one that needed to be said. Danny shrugged. 

“Rough night at work, but I’ll live. Is that what you wanted to ask me?” he asked curiously.

“Uh, no. Not exactly,” Jason said, trying desperately to keep his hands from fidgeting. Danny raised an eyebrow at him and Jason took in a deep breath. Why was he so goddamned nervous? 

“Do you want to get coffee with me sometime?” Jason spat out too fast. 

“Coffee?” Danny asked. 

“Or food, or whatever. You know,” Jason lost the fight with himself and tugged on the hem of his shirt. 

“When?” Danny asked.

“Uh, whenever you’re free I guess,” Jason said, not sure where to go from here, he hadn’t planned this far. 

“I’m free now,” Danny offered. 

“Now?” Jason spluttered. Danny nodded, smiling at him. 

“Just let me get changed okay,” Danny said. “I’ll meet you out here in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jason said. Danny smiled at him again and ducked back into his apartment, closing the door. Jason stood there dumbly for a minute, stunned. That had gone a lot better than he expected. After staring at Danny’s door for a while, he came to his senses and bolted back up to his apartment. He needed to change! And brush his teeth! And crap, did he clean all the Red Hood crap out of his car? He needed to stop leaving stuff in there. Jason hurried to get ready, unsure if this was a date and not really caring. He was actually going to get to spend more time with Danny dammit, he wasn’t going to screw it up. Danny wasn’t going to be another mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you are. I’m actually a chapter ahead of what I’m posting, so if I ever don’t feel up to writing you will still get a chapter. I plan to keep to the schedule of posting Tuesday and Friday mornings. Please review! I love to hear from you.


	4. Hurts Past and Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really excited for you all to read this chapter! There's interesting stuff in it. Also! Check out this awesome art I commissioned by Alicja Leśniak (Goldenrosewolf) on Facebook.

Jason held the door open for Danny. “Welcome to Mama June’s Dinner!” he said grandly. Danny gave him a smile. Mama June’s Dinner was on the edge of what was usually considered the slums, in an area that the city proper hadn’t quite given up on, but that the slums were starting to devour. It was the best damn dinner in Jason’s opinion. 

There was an awkward shuffling as they both tried to sit in the seat facing the door. After a second, Jason let Danny have it, even though he hated having his back to the exit. 

“This place is nice,” Danny said looking around. It was homey and warm, clean, if a little worn. 

“Best dinner in Gotham,” Jason said as Danny picked up the menu; Jason didn’t bother, he knew that menu by heart. 

“Well ain't that just sweet of you Jason,” a beautiful older black woman said coming up to their table. Jason stood to greet her and she pulled him into a bone crushing hug. 

“Damn, mama June,” he complained. “You’re gonna throw my back out.” 

“You’re too young to be complaining of back pain. Now, who’ve you brought me today? You’ve always come by yourself before.” Jason sat down rubbing his back and gestured a hand to Danny. 

“This is Danny. He’s my new neighbor,” Jason introduced. 

“Hi,” Danny said with a small wave. 

“Well aren't you just adorable,” Mama June exclaimed. “He certainly is a catch ain’t he hon?” she whispered overloud to Jason. He put his head in his hands. 

“Mama June,” Jason whined. 

“Now stop that,” she swatted him. “Don’t go ruining this.”

“You’re the one ruining this,” Jason grumbled. She swatted him again and he yelped. 

“Now, what can I get you boys?” she asked sweetly. Jason ordered the tall stack of pancakes with bacon and eggs. Danny ordered the same, and Mama June went back into the kitchen. 

“She seems nice,” Danny said, with feeling. 

“Yeah, she’s a character,” Jason agreed, fiddling with the salt and pepper shakers. “She was a stripper when I was a kid.”

“What?” Danny said, surprised. He looked back at the kitchen door. “Really?”

“Yeah. She was friends with my mom, used to babysit me,” Jason explained. 

“Oh,” Danny said, like he wasn’t sure what to do with that information. “That explains why she treats you like her kid,” Danny grinned at him. Jason grimaced. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “So, Danny, what brings you to Gotham? You don’t seem like you grew up here.” Danny looked out the window, though there wasn’t much to see out there. 

“I didn’t. Grow up here I mean. I just... couldn’t go back home. I lost everyone. Guess I needed a change of scenery," he said with a solemn look on his face.

“Lost them?” Jason asked softly. 

“Yeah, gas explosion,” Danny explained. 

“Really? Damn. I thought those only happened in movies,” Jason said trying to lighten the mood. His response to death was to joke, not the best reaction really. But Danny snorted. 

“Yeah, me too. It was a while ago, I was still a teenager. I… ended up in the system for a while. Got out a year ago. I came to Gotham looking for a fresh start.” Danny shrugged. 

“Hell of a place for a fresh start,” Jason snorted. Danny smiled softly at him. 

“Why do you stay if you think it’s a bad place?” he asked. Jason shrugged. 

“It sucks, but I grew up here. I took some time off, a year ago. Part of that was because of this huge fight I had with my family, but I came back. Couldn’t stay away. Gotham’s a part of me. I can’t leave it even if I try," he said with a bit of a grimace.

“Are things better with your family now?” Danny asked. He seemed genuinely curious. Jason wondered if that was because he no longer had a family of his own. 

“A bit,” Jason said. “My mom died when I was a little kid ya see, and I lived on the streets for a while. When I was seven, I got adopted by this guy. He’d already adopted one kid before me, and adopted another one later. Then, this chick he’d banged showed up two years ago with his ten year old kid he didn’t know about and dumped the kid on him. I’ve got a decent relationship now with my two younger ‘brothers’ _,_ but I can’t stand my older ‘brother’ or my ‘ _dad_ ’ right now," he said gruffly.

“At least you’ve got people,” Danny said. Jason thought about that. He did have people, not a lot of them, but good ones. Tim and Damian, Doctor Thompkins, Barbara, even Mama June. He was starting to consider Phantom and Danny a part of his people too. His thoughts were interrupted by Mama June bringing out their food. She didn’t stay long, just cooed over them for a moment before going off to take other orders. 

“Do you not have anyone?”Jason asked. Danny paused with a bite halfway to his mouth. He set the fork down, the bite uneaten. 

“Not really,” he said. “There’s this one guy at work, but I don’t know if I’d really call him a friend. I’d definitely count on him to help if I needed it, but we’ve never hung out outside of work you know?” Danny said as he stuffed his face with the abandoned forkful of pancake. 

“You’ve got me too, if you want,” Jason added, cautiously. Danny swallowed and smiled at him, a real smile that lit up his eyes. Those beautiful electric blue eyes.

“I’d like that,” Danny said. 

  
  


…

Jason was worried that Phantom wouldn’t show up after the strange events with the bar fight the night before. But he was there, waiting on the roof as usual. 

“Hey,” Jason greeted cautiously. Phantom flinched at the greeting. 

“Hey, sorry about last night,” he started. “I shouldn’t have run off like that," he said as he scuffed the toe of a boot against the rooftop.

“It’s cool,” Jason said, just glad that the guy had shown up tonight. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about the prospect of never seeing Phantom again until he’d spotted the meta safe and sound. 

“Just don’t bolt on me like that again,” Jason said firmly. Phantom looked away and nodded. Jason looked at the arm where he'd been slashed. The hoodie was still stained and bloody, and Jason could see the white of bandages underneath. A stampede of thoughts ran through Jason’s head as he did some quick mental calculations. 

“Hey, I’ve got something outside the Narrows I need to take care of,” he decided. Phantom finally looked back at him. “Just keep the peace tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Phantom nodded and headed off. Jason watched him go. He always moved with a strange sort of floatiness that carried him further and higher with each jump and stride than a normal person. Jason turned to go get his bike. He had a trip to the Batcave to make. 

...

Bruce wouldn’t be back till tomorrow, so Jason should have enough time to raid the cave. He’d been hoping that it would be empty, but as he pulled in with his bike, he saw a hunched form typing away on the Bat computer. The figure was too small to be either Bruce or Dick, so Jason parked and climbed the stairs up to them. 

“Hey Jason,” Tim greeted without looking away from the computer. “What’s up?” 

“I need to use the fabricator,” Jason said bluntly. 

“What’re you making? Bruce will flip if you use it to make guns again. Pretty sure he put a program on it to prevent anyone from making guns, but I can probably hack it if you want,” Tim offered looking at Jason finally. Jason took his helmet off and set it on the desk. 

“I’m making Phantom a proper suit,” Jason explained. “What he’s wearing now has no protection. He got cut by some drunken idiot yesterday. If he’d been geared up properly, it never would have happened,” he stated seriously. 

Tim just nodded at this explanation.

“I already figured out his sizes based on the footage I took of him fighting Robin,” Tim explained, opening a file on the computer. 

“Of course you did,” Jason said. Tim was more of a detective than even the Bat. 

“What specs do you want?” Tim pulled up the fabricator input screen. The fabricator used premade parts to put together just about anything you wanted, but mostly it was used to make their suits. Jason had stolen into the back cave to use it to make his gear when he first rampaged back to Gotham. A full protective Bat brand lightweight Kevlar body suit under a leather jacket and pants, with steel toe boots, knee pads, gloves, and of course, his “red hood”. He'd originally given himself the red bat logo as a sort of insult to the Bats, but since then, he’d grown fond of the dumb thing. 

“Similar setup to mine,” Jason started. “Silver Kevlar body suit, with my bat logo in neon green. Silver gloves and boots. Do silver knee pads and black leather pants as well.”

“He’s got a hood now, do you want to keep that?” Tim asked as he typed away. Jason thought about it for a second, and decided that it would be good to cover that white hair, and the silver body suit he’d decided he needed for some reason. 

“Leather jacket with a hood,” Jason decided. Tim snorted. “What?” Jason demanded. 

“It’s just, I hope he appreciates your style,” Tim said. 

“Hey, he works for me, and I want the people to know it,” Jason said annoyed. “And what’s wrong with my style?”

“You’ve got more of a thing for leather than a BDSM fan,” Tim said flatly. Jason huffed. 

“What to keep the blind fold?” Tim asked. “I can design something that looks just like it but is rigged up with a com and night vision.”

“You’ve already designed it haven't you,” Jason asked. Tim grunted and pulled up the blueprint for it. 

“I like to be prepared," he said with a shrug.

“You take too much after Bats,” Jason said, leaning forward over the desk to look up at the screen. It looked good to him. 

“You put any way to track him in this?” Jason asked. 

“No, you want me to?” Tim asked curiously.

“No, he’d find it if we did. And I don’t want to break his trust right now,” Jason stated. 

“I started the fabrication, it’ll take about ten hours,” Tim said. “You could go finish your patrol and pick it up in the morning. Bruce won’t be home till about noon.” 

“Sounds good,” Jason decided. “Ima head out then.”

“Not without some tea and biscuits master Jason,” Alfred said behind them. Jason swore under his breath, that butler was quieter than the Bats.

“Alfred,” Jason said, turning around. “I’d love to stay but I really need to get back to work.” Alfred turned a disapproving look on him, and Jason’s resolve crumbled. “I guess I have time for one cup." 

“Splendid,” Alfred said, turning and heading for the elevator. Jason grumbled and followed him up, Tim snickering in the background. 

…

  
  


Alfred led him into the kitchen and Jason sat down at the counter. The butler put a plate of cookies in front of him and set the kettle to boiling. 

“Now master Jason, it has been far too long since you’ve come for a visit. How are you doing?” Alfred asked in his kind but polite manner.

“I’m fine Alfi,” Jason said, turning a cookie over in his hands before taking a bite. 

“How is your life outside of the job? Have you made any new friends?” Jason snorted at the question. Alfred was talking to him like he was a kid who wasn’t making enough friends at school, and normally Jason would brush him off, but… He hadn’t told anyone about Danny yet. He hadn’t wanted to bring that craziness down on himself, especially since Tim had just found out he was gay. If that information reached the others, or god forbid Dick, it would be hell. Add a new friend on top of that who happened to be a cute guy, and Jason would never get any peace. But Alfred was different, he’d never tell anyone. 

“Actually, there's this guy,” Jason started. Alfred raised an eyebrow, the only sign that he was surprised. “He moved into the apartment below mine.”

“What is his name?” Alfred asked. 

“Danny. He’s pretty cool. He works the night shift so our schedules match,” Jason explained. It was really nice to be telling someone about this. 

“Oh?” Alfred said, encouraging Jason to go on. 

“Yeah. We’ve been chatting on the fire escape after work, and we got dinner together yesterday, or was it breakfast? It was dinner time for us anyway,” Jason explained. 

“What is he like?” Alfred asked as he poured a cup of tea for Jason. Jason took it and started telling Alfred how cool Danny was, what he knew of his life, and their conversation about the people in their lives. Time slipped away from Jason, and before he knew it, he’d been there for more than an hour and had drunk three cups of tea. He made his excuses and left Alfred, who seemed very happy. 

...

On his ride back into town, Oracle called him. 

“Hood,” she greeted. 

“Oracle. You get anything for me on Phantom?” 

“No.” she said. 

“No? Then why are you calling," he asked with irritation.

“Because I didn’t get anything on Phantom,” she explained. 

“I don’t understand,” he said, confused. 

“Hood. I couldn’t find  _ anything _ . It’s like he never existed before he showed up over a week ago. I didn’t find any records of a meta with his power set in any of my databases. I didn’t find any mention of him on social media, or in the missing persons database, or in the foster care system. I didn’t find any records of him in any reports on disbanded metahuman experimentation facilities. There’s no trace of him anywhere on the web that I have found!" she exclaimed, frustration clear in her voice.

“Nothing?” Jason said, dumbfounded. “But everyone leaves a trace online. Unless he just got his powers.”

“You really think he just got his powers two weeks ago, and immediately decided he was going to join the Red Hood?” she said, sarcasm lacing her words.

“No,” Jason admitted. “That wouldn’t explain the scars.” 

“Exactly. The fact that I can’t find anything doesn’t mean it’s not there, it means someone has scrubbed the web for any trace of him. Someone doesn’t want anyone to know about him," she said, dead serious.

“But can someone really get rid of all traces?” he asked.

“No,” Oracle admitted. “There are always crumbs. And I think I found one. There’s this weird group I’ve found mentioned in a few places going by the acronym GIW. No idea what it means, but they seem to be a government division that studies ghosts.”

“But Phantom isn’t a ghost,” Jason argued. “He’s just a meta.” 

“I know, and so I didn’t look into it at first. But when everything else came up blank, I decided to take a closer look. And Hood, I found something interesting. I tried to hack into their servers, and I ran into the strangest fire wall I’ve ever seen,” she exclaimed with fascination. 

“How strange?” he asked.

“Like, I haven’t figured out how to get past it, strange. This thing is super smart. It’s like it knows I’m trying to get in and keeps changing. It’s almost like it’s alive. I’d love to meet the person who wrote the code because holy shit this thing is brilliant. But so far, I haven’t gotten in."

“Why would a ghost hunting organization need a firewall that powerful?” Jason asked with skepticism.

“No idea. But even if this doesn’t lead to any information about Phantom I want to know what’s behind it,” she said, determined.

“Have you asked RR for help?”

“Not yet. If I can’t crack it in another day I will.” 

“Well keep me posted. This sounds suspicious,” he said, his voice low.

“I will.” And with that, she ended the connection. 

..

Jason met up with Phantom, who seemed a lot better after smashing a few heads. 

“You missed all the fun,” he said gesturing around himself to all the men laying on the ground groaning. They were on the docks, packages of drugs spilling everywhere. 

“What happened to only take on the small fry?” Jason demanded. Phantom didn’t wilt under his anger like Jason figured he would. Instead, he planted his feet. 

“Well, when I learned from some kids that these assholes were using kids to move their drugs, I figured you’d want them taken down.” His voice was harsh and low. Jason repressed a flinch. This was a very different person than the one he’d met at the beginning of the night. Where that one had been meek and quiet, this one was a ball of rage and power. Jason shrugged. 

“Hey, my mistake. I guess these were the small fry. After all, only the lowest scumbag would use kids for their own gain,” he said, trying to diffuse the tension. He turned his stare on the thugs rolling on the ground. Even though they couldn’t see his face, they all flinched away from him. Danny grinned cruelly at their fear, that missing tooth making him look a bit crazy. For once, Jason was worried not about Phantom’s safety, but about the criminals of Gotham. Something had set him off tonight, and that glimmer of cruelty Jason was seeing was worrying. As he scanned the thugs again, he saw a lot more broken bones and burns than could have been necessary; excessive force had been used. Hopefully Phantom kept this rage directed at those who deserved it.

Jason sent Phantom home after that, telling him to get some sleep, he was going to need his energy tomorrow. Jason knew Batman was likely to show up and pick a fight. Jason finished the patrol and as the sun came up, picked up Phantom’s new gear from the cave and headed home. 

… 

  
  


When he got there, Danny was fighting with his door again, trying to wedge a credit card into it. 

“Hey, you locked out again?” Jason asked. Danny sighed and let off trying to shimmy the door open. 

“Yeah. I just can’t keep track of my keys,” he groaned. 

“Is your window still unlocked?"

“No, I started locking it after you broke in,” Danny explained. “And I can’t figure out how this card thing is supposed to work.” 

“Let me try,” Jason took the card, a gamestop membership, and tried to convince the door to open, but it was built wrong and too worn for the trick to work. Jason thought for a bit before deciding he didn’t have another choice. 

“Wait here,” he said, handing back the card. He hurried upstairs and opened his backpack. He didn’t want Danny to know he just carried around a lock pick set. He came back downstairs with the case in his hands and knelt in front of the door. He examined the lock and picked out a few tools. 

“You know how to pick locks?” Danny asked, suspicious. Jason shrugged. 

“I told you I lived on the streets for a while," he said as an explanation.

“And yet you have a professional lock picking set," Danny said a little suspiciously.

“Hey, old habits die hard,” Jason said, trying to avoid outright lying. The door opened and Danny let out a breath. 

“Well I guess I can’t complain if you only use your powers for good,” he joked.

Jason chuckled under his breath. If only he knew.

  
  
  


…

  
  


A little while later, they sat outside together.. 

“My dad is going to be back in town today,” Jason sighed. 

“You said he’s been on a business trip right?” Danny asked. 

“Yeah, he’s probably going to try to pester me,” Jason groaned. 

“You never said what your fight was about,” Danny said. Jason had to think of a way to word this. He sucked at lying, which was why he hadn’t asked Danny what his job was. If he did, then Danny was going to ask him about his and he didn’t think he could lie convincingly enough. And Danny hadn’t brought it up yet, so maybe he didn’t want to talk about it anyway. 

“I got hurt by someone,” Jason started slowly. “And my  _ dad  _ didn’t pursue their punishment as far as he could. I was mad about that. And I was mad that afterward, he went and adopted another kid like I didn’t matter.” 

“That sucks,” Danny said. “How old were you?” 

“Fifteen. We fought about it for years," he said lamely.

“I had a sister,” Danny offered. “Our parents loved us, but sometimes it felt like they put work first.” Jason scoffed. 

“I know the feeling.” He agreed honestly. He'd never had very attentive parents.

After that they lapsed into a comfortable silence, thinking about their shitty childhoods.

…

Jason’s phone woke him up. He grabbed it and shoved it against his ear. 

“What?” he demanded. 

“Jason?” said a male voice.

“Bruce?” Jason said, pulling the phone away to check the caller idea. Sure enough, it said, ‘Don’t Answer!!!!!’. “Shit,” Jason swore into the phone. “I didn’t mean to answer.” 

“Jason,” Bruce said. 

“Just pretend I sent you to voicemail,” Jason just caught Bruce’s “wait” before he hung up. He threw the phone back onto the side table and ignored the next call. And the next, and the next. There was a small break, but when the phone rang a fourth time he picked up. 

“Goddamn it Bruce! Leave me alone!” he yelled.

“Uh, Jason,” Tim said. 

“Oh, sorry,” Jason said, calming down. 

“I take it Bruce already called,” Tim said, his voice edged with pity.

“Yeah. You need something?” he asked, sighing.

“I was just going to warn you that Bruce is back. He knows about Phantom and he’s pissed,” Tim said simply.

“Well screw him, I don’t care. But thanks for the warning,” Jason said with meaning while ruffling his already disheveled hair. 

“I’m just sorry he got to you first,” Tim said, his voice still full of pity. Normally it would have annoyed Jason to be pitied, but he found it didn't sting so badly coming from his brother.

“Eh, I hung up on him,” Jason said, satisfied. 

“That’ll just piss him off more,” Tim said with a groan and then hung up. Jason tossed the phone back on the nightstand and went back to sleep. 

…

“Here,” Jason said, holding out a reusable shopping bag for Phantom. He took it cautiously. 

“What is it?” Phantom asked, looking into it. 

“It’s new gear,” Jason explained. “The shit you’ve got on isn’t enough protection. This stuff can block bullets, and knives,” he said pointedly. Phantom pulled out a bit of the body suit and examined it. 

“Thanks,” he said, like he meant it. 

“I made sure Red Robin didn’t put any tracking devices in it,” Jason said. “Go put it on and meet me back here. I want you to stick close tonight.”

“Why?” Phantom asked. 

“I hear Batman is back in town, and he doesn’t like me, or metas.” Phantom looked at him with a confused expression. 

“When did he leave?” he asked. Jason was confused himself for a second, before he realized that Dick had been playing Batman while Bruce was gone. It fooled most people, but not Jason. He knew how they moved too well to be fooled. 

“Oh,” Jason said. “Yeah, well, once you’re a part of this community for a while you learn some shit. See, occasionally Batman has to leave Gotham for one reason or another, and he doesn’t want anyone to know, so Nightwing, who usually works in Bludhaven, puts on the cowl and runs around Gotham with Robin. The Batman who’s been around the last month has actually been Nightwing. But I heard through the grapevine that the real Bat is back tonight. And like I said, he’s going to have beef with both of us. So we need to have each other's backs,” he said pointedly after his explanation. Phantom took a moment to process this before nodding. 

“Okay, I’ll be back in a second.” When he reappeared a few minutes later, he was wearing the new gear. He stood a little bit awkwardly, like he wasn’t sure of it, but Jason thought he looked good. The new outfit showed off his figure a lot better than the baggy hoodie and jeans had. He looked stronger, his narrow frame looked more muscular, lean and fast. 

“You look good,” Jason admitted. 

“You have a serious leather fetish you know,” Phantom joked looking at himself. Jason choked. 

“First Red Robin and now you?” he demanded. “It’s strong and it lasts okay. I do not have a leather fetish," he said flailing his arms. Phantom made a motion like he was rolling his eyes, but Jason couldn’t tell with the blindfold. 

“That mask has a com unit in it,” Jason said. “You should have access to Oracle now.”

“Oracle?” Phantom asked. 

“Evening boys,” Oracle said in Jason’s ear, and judging from Phantom’s reaction, he heard her as well. 

“Woah, who are you?” he asked. 

“I’m Oracle. Think of me as the helpful, but all seeing big brother. Or your guy in the chair, or what have you. I can track anything or hack anything," she said with a mischievous tilt to her voice. 

“She’s the one we call if we need help with anything computer based on the job,” Jason explained. 

“Exactly. If you need anything, just say my name into the com and my system will pick it up and link you to me. For now, I’ll leave you to your patrol.” There was a click as Oracle ended the connection. 

“Is she always listening?” Phantom asked. 

“Not to us. I’ve got a deal with her. She stays out of my business unless I ask her. And unless you change it with her, she’ll do the same for you. Now the Bats, she is always listening to them, but they have a lot more people to coordinate, so she helps with that.” Jason explained. 

“Okay, can I get you on this?” Phantom asked, touching his ear. Jason showed him how to operate the coms and once he’d gotten it, they headed out.

...

They hadn’t gone far before Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. 

“Hold up,” he said, throwing an arm up to stop Phantom from jumping to the next roof. 

“What is it?” Phantom asked. Jason kept his arm up, forcing Phantom to stay behind him as he turned around, searching. There. A spot of darker black in the shadows. 

“Stay behind me,” Jason warned as Batman leapt down in front of them.

“What do you want Bats?” Jason said, making sure Phantom stayed behind him and angling himself so it looked casual. He crossed his arms and glared at Batman. 

Batman’s eyes scanned up and down Jason, and then examined what he could see of Phantom over his shoulder

“I want to talk to you Hood,” Batman said with that gravelly growl. 

“You don’t get to want anything from me,” Jason declared. He dropped his arms and upholstered a gun. Batman didn’t miss the motion. The larger man looked at Phantom

“And I want to talk to you," he said with authority.

“You don’t get to want anything from him either!” Jason steam rolled over him. Batman turned his attention back to Jason. Phantom stayed silent. Batman tapped his ear like he was silencing his coms, and Jason grew more worried. If he was ignoring advice from the others, then he could be in real trouble. 

“Get out of my territory Bats!” Jason spat. “You’re not welcome here.” 

“I see you’re still using guns,” Batman commented, looking pointedly at the weapon in Jason’s hand. Without warning, he swung the gun up and fired directly at the Bat’s chest. Batman had just enough time to plant his feet before the bullet struck him and bounced off. 

“They’re rubber you dumbass,” Jason said. He’d noticed Phantom flinch behind him when he fired, but the meta didn’t say anything. 

“They’re still dangerous,” Batman argued, a little out of breath. 

“So are the Bat shaped knives you throw at people,” Jason said, exasperated. Batman turned his attention back to Phantom. 

“And I hear he leaves his victims with serious burns," he said, narrowing his eyes beneath the cowl.

“Victims?!” Jason demanded “Since when are child abusers and muggers our victims?” 

“He’s not one of us Hood. He’s a meta," he stated.

“You think I don’t fucking know that?” Jason demanded. “What does it matter? We follow your dumb rules Bats. We don’t kill. We take out the bad guys.”

“Not all of them,” Batman interrupted. 

“Oh, you mean the punks who sell weed? That stuff doesn’t hurt anyone Bats. In fact, there’s more proof it helps than hurts. Besides, you of all people should know you can’t stop all the crime in the world. Better stop the punks who hurt kids and the innocent than those that sell crap to consenting adults,” Jason said with conviction.

“Our job is to stop all crime. To take those who steal, and hurt, and break the law and show them justice,” Batman said, getting worked up. 

“Is that what you’d wish you’d done to me? When I stole your tires. Do you wish you’d thrown me in juvie instead of giving me a home!?” Jason said, getting more and more angry. 

“I wish I hadn’t raised a man who thinks it’s okay to kill people and let criminals go! I wish I didn’t have to know that one day I'm going to have to put you down when you go too far again!” Batman finally yelled. Jason stood there, stunned for several moments, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn’t pull away. 

“You’re a horrible father,” Phantom said simply. Jason glanced back over his shoulder at Batman as his partner, his friend, led him away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I’m horrible, but Batman is worse. And he is going to screw up a lot more before this is over. Next time, we’ll open with some soft bonding. Please review!


	5. Bonds grow and Bonds weaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I lied about opening with cute bonding, you have a little bit of action before the cute bonding.

Red Hood and Phantom went on their patrol, despite the awkward atmosphere. There wasn’t much action for several hours. They stopped a few muggins, and shoed off a group of teen graffiti artists who were about to paint over a shop’s windows, but it was slow. Until the crash. 

Jason heard the sound of metal smashing and car horns blaring from the rooftops. He turned and saw the disaster on the overpass near the edge of the narrows. Several cars and a huge semi truck hauling a cylindrical container had slammed into each other. The semi had smashed across the median and crashed into traffic on the other side. Cars were rear ending each other in their attempts to stop. 

“Hurry!” Phantom yelled and together they dashed across the roofs to the bridge. Before they’d even gotten there, whatever the semi had been hauling, some kind of liquid which had spilled all over the road and cars, ignited. Flames shot up as they landed next to the crash. 

“We’ve got to get the people out!” Jason yelled. He tried to get at the nearest car, but the flames held him back. His helmet would filter out the smoke and fumes, but the heat would still roast him alive. 

“Phantom! Use your ice!” Jason turned back to shout at him. Phantom looked open mouthed at the scale of the fire before swallowing hard and nodding. He held out both his hands, and ice shot out from them, smothering much of the fire. Jason didn’t wait. He started pulling half conscious and dazed people out of cars, dragging them as far away from the wreck as possible. As he worked, he noticed Phantom wasn’t helping him. 

“Phantom! Help…” his order died on his tongue when he caught sight of the meta. He was on his hands and knees, neon green ooze spilling from his mouth as he heaved. 

“Phantom?!” Jason called. The meta waved him off, so Jason went back to wrenching car doors open and smashing windows to get at the people inside. Most of the fire was gone, smothered in ice, but a few patches still remained, and with so many wrecked cars, Jason wasn’t going to risk any flames reaching a cracked gas tank while people were in range. Finally, he heard the sound of sirens, and a fireman pulled the man he was dragging out of his arms. Jason looked around and saw the emergency response teams swarming the area. That was his cue to leave.

He hurried back to where he’d last seen Phantom. He was sitting up, leaning against the barrier on the edge of the bridge, his head tipped back, panting. Jason eyed the strange pool of green the meta had thrown up, and went to his friend. He crouched down next to him and touched his shoulder. Phantom tipped his head down to look at him. Jason wished he could see his eyes to better gauge how he was doing. 

“You good?” Jason asked. Phantom hummed. 

“Not really,” he answered, his voice even more destroyed than normal. 

“Come on,” Jason said, pulling the meta’s arm over his shoulder and hauling him up. He supported the guy’s weight as they repelled off the bridge and made for the nearest ally. He didn’t want the officials to notice them and start trying to talk, not when Phantom seemed so out of it. He set the meta down and pressed a hand to the guy’s forehead. It was cold, way too cold. 

“What?” Jason started. 

“Mutation,” Phantom said, slurring the word. 

“What the heck happened back there?” Jason asked. 

“Too much,” Phantom said. “Pushed myself.” He didn’t seem to be able to say more, but Jason understood, he’d overextended his powers. 

“Alright, come on,” Jason said, getting Phantom back on his feet and practically carrying him. He didn’t weigh nearly as much as Jason thought he should. “I’ve got somewhere you can rest.” Slowly, as Jason stuck to the shadows so they wouldn’t be seen, they made their way to the nearest of his safehouses. It was in the basement of a little used building. Jason awkwardly supported Phantom and unlocked the padlock. He turned on the light and the cramped space was illuminated. A cot sat under a sheet of plastic and a locker stood on the opposite wall. Random cardboard boxes sat around the space to draw suspicion away if anyone were to find the place. 

Jason set Phantom down on the cot after he pulled the plastic away. He hadn’t been here in a while, except to check the stock and change the rat traps which he was happy to see were still empty. 

Phantom leaned heavily back against the wall. Jason opened the locker and pulled out a water bottle which he gave to the meta. Phantom struggled with the cap for a minute before he managed to get it open. Then he downed the contents in several large gulps. Jason gave him another. This one he sipped on slowly. 

“You good?” Jason asked. 

“I’ll be fine,” Phantom said. He sounded a little better, but still hoarser than his usual gravel. 

“You can stay here till you’re feeling up to heading home,” Jason said, leaning against the wall opposite the meta. “If you’re still feeling weak tomorrow, I want you to take the night off. I can handle things on my own, and I don’t need a liability in the field.” Phantom nodded. 

“Yeah, I’ll need a day or two to recover,” he admitted begrudgingly. “I’ve pushed myself before, I know what to expect.” 

“It’s good to know your limits,” Jason agreed. He was kind of surprised that Phantom did know his limits. With the lack of information Oracle had managed to find, he was starting to suspect that she’d been wrong and there just wasn't anything  _ to  _ find. That Phantom was just a new meta. But if he knew his powers well enough to know their limits this well, then he’d had them a while and there should be some record. Since there wasn’t, someone had clearly hidden it. 

“I’m going back out,” Jason said. “Call me or Oracle on the coms if you need anything.” Phantom nodded and pulled his legs up onto the cot. He was laying himself down as Jason left.

...

“Evening Red Hood,” Oracle said in his ear a while later. “Nice job on the wreck.” 

“Phantom put out the blaze,” Jason said, crediting his partner. 

“So I heard. How is he? I haven’t picked him up on any cameras since the accident.” So she’d been watching. Jason should have known. She might not have been monitoring them directly, but if they showed up in her system, she would notice. 

“He’s okay,” Jason said. “He just over extended his powers. He’ll be out of the field for a day or two. How many people made it out of the crash?” he asked. 

“No deaths have been reported yet,” Oracle said. “And everyone is expected to recover fully, though just about all the victims have been hospitalized. How are you doing?” Jason understood the question, she was asking about the argument with Batman at the start of the night. But Jason didn’t want to talk about it. 

“I’m fine. Didn’t sustain any injuries from the fire,” Jason said, willfully misunderstanding her. 

“That’s good. With Phantom down the Narrows will need you,” she said, allowing him to avoid her actual question. 

“Any luck with that firewall?” he changed the subject. 

“Not yet. I’m going to show it to Red Robin soon. Just want to try one more thing," she said.

“Let me know how it goes," he told her.

“I will,” she said and ended the call.

…

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked, glaring at Tim who was sitting on his couch typing away on a laptop perched on his knees.

“Came to say hey,” Tim said, not looking up. “And to let you know that I’m heading to New York for a bit. I need some time away from B.” 

“He piss you off too?” Jason asked, dumping his backpack on the floor and going to his fridge. He pulled out two ciders and set them on the counter. Tim got up and sat down on a stool across from him, setting his laptop on the fake marble surface. 

“What’re those for?” he asked. 

“Are you going to be here a while?” Jason asked as he walked to his window. 

“Yeah,” Tim admitted. “I’m waiting for Conner to come pick me up. What’re you doing?” he asked as Jason opened his window and stuck his head out. Danny was just opening his own window. 

“Why don’t you come inside today,” Jason said. “My brother has come to pester me.” Danny gave him a curious look and scrambled up the fire escape stairs. As he got closer, Jason noted that he looked a bit sick, his skin was pale and the bags under his eyes more pronounced. Before he let him inside, Jason asked, “You okay? You look sick.” He didn’t need him anywhere near Tim if he wasn’t well. Tim didn’t have a spleen, so even a cold could be deadly. 

“I’m fine,” Danny said. “Just overworked. I’m taking the night off to recover.” Jason nodded and held the curtains back for him as he scrambled inside. 

“Hey,” Tim said, uncertain from his spot at the counter. Danny gave him a small wave.

“Danny, this is my brother Tim. Tim, this is my friend Danny.” Jason said dryly as he closed the window and went back to the kitchen. Danny followed him. Jason saw Tim notice Danny’s limp, the bags under his eyes, and the scars down his arms, cataloging and storing the information like the Bat had taught them. You never could turn it off. Danny sat down at the counter next to Tim. 

“I’ve heard a bit about you,” Danny admitted. “Jason said you’re really good with computers.” 

“I am, though I have to admit, he hasn’t talked about you,” Tim said, closing his laptop. Jason wasn’t sure if he did it to be polite, or if he was working on something incriminating. Jason handed Danny a cider which he sipped. 

“Danny works third shift,” Jason explained when Tim gave him a questioning look. It wasn’t as much as his brother wanted to know though. 

“Are you old enough to drink?” Tim asked. 

“My fake ID says I am,” Danny said with a smirk. Tim laughed. 

“Jason, you know it’s illegal to give alcohol to minors,” he teased. Jason shrugged. 

“He’s legal, just not drinking legal," he said casually.

“So how the hell did you two meet?” Tim asked, looking at Danny. “I’ve never known Jason to be the friend making type.” Danny shrugged. 

“He helped me break into my apartment when I locked my keys inside," he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

“And I continue to break in because he can’t keep track of them,” Jason said. He avoided the playful slap Danny aimed at him and sipped on his drink. 

“You should just give him a spare key if you keep losing yours,” Tim said. Jason inhaled his drink and went into a coughing fit trying to expel the cider from his lungs. 

“You good?” Danny asked, lifting himself up on his hands to look over the counter to see Jason bent over. Jason waved him off. Once he’d gotten his coughing under control, he leveled a glare at Tim. 

“What?” Tim demanded. Jason rolled his eyes. 

“Do you have anything to eat?” Tim asked. Jason groaned. 

“Did you come over just to make me feed you? When’s your ride getting here?” he asked with a groan.

“Not for an hour or two. Besides, your cooking is amazing," Tim said wistfully. 

“It is?” Danny asked, looking at Tim. Tim gaped at him. 

“He hasn’t cooked for you yet?!” he demanded. “What other reason is there to be friends with Jason besides his cooking?” 

“Hey!” Jason said. “Keep talking like that and I won’t feed you," he warned with a pointing finger.

“Are you really that good?” Danny asked, turning to him. 

“I’m decent,” Jason admitted. “But anyone can cook with some practice.” 

“Not me,” Danny said. “I live off pop tarts and instant ramen.” Jason stared at him. 

“You what?” he demanded. “That’s it. I’m making dinner.” 

“Yes,” Tim said softly, pumping his fist. Jason turned a glare on him but started to dig through his fridge. 

“What do you want Danny,” he asked pointedly ignoring the soft noise of protest from Tim. 

“Uh, I don’t know. What do you have that you can make?” he asked politely.

“I’ve got stuff for burgers,” Jason said, pulling out some ground beef. 

“I haven’t had a decent burger in ages,” Danny said, getting a far away look in his eyes. It made Jason’s heart stutter. 

“Burgers it is,” he decided, getting to work. While he cooked, Tim and Danny started talking about computers and video games, and other things Jason wasn’t really interested in. He interjected a few times, but mostly left them to it, until Tim asked, “Has Bruce contacted you again?” 

“You mean since the fight last night? No," he said with a scowl.

“Bruce?” Danny asked. 

“Our adoptive dad,” Tim explained. 

“You had a fight with your dad?” Danny turned to Jason, concerned. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Jason said, without much force. “I was expecting it.” 

“It still sucks,” Danny said. 

“Bruce has always been hard on Jason,” Tim said. 

“Yeah. Cause I came from the gutter,” Jason said, slamming their plates down in front of them. “Now change the subject and eat your food.” They both quickly did as they were told, not wanting to get Jason any more upset than he already was. Danny’s eyes went huge when he took a bite. 

“This is amazing!” he exclaimed with his mouth full. Tim took a bite and moaned. Jason thought he should have seasoned the patties more. 

“Hey Jason,” Tim said. “We need to do another movie night soon. Damian needs a night away from Bruce.” Jason hummed. 

“You guys have movie nights?” Danny asked, sounding interested. 

“Yeah,” Tim said. “You are totally invited," he said looking Danny in the eye. Jason thought about complaining that since the movie nights were at his house, he should be the one to decide who was invited. But he saw what the statement was, Tim’s approval of Danny and offer to let Jason bring him into what had before been the one thing the three of them got to do together, so he didn’t complain. Instead he said.“Damian’s a little shit, so you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“It sounds fun,” Danny said. 

“Jay makes the best pizza,” Tim said. 

“If Jason’s cooking, then I am so in,” Danny said emphatically. Jason watched as the two stopped talking and inhaled their food. He’d always loved cooking, but it was so much better cooking for other people, to be able to see them enjoy your food. With Phantom helping on patrol, he’d actually had time to cook, but he hadn’t had the motivation. He decided that he was going to change his and Danny’s fire escape after work chats to him making Danny dinner. He just couldn’t resist seeing the guy happy like he was right now. 

...

The patrol without Phantom was brutal. It’d been a quiet night yesterday, but today it seemed like the Narrows intended to make up the difference. Only a call from Tim broke up the grind. 

“RR, what’s up?” Jason asked, using their hero names in case some rando was close enough to hear.

“Hey, Oracle just showed me the fire wall she’d gotten stuck on doing research into Phantom for you,” Tim said. 

“What do you think?” Jason asked. 

“I recognize it actually,” Tim admitted, surprising Jason. 

“From where?” Any clue Tim could give him would help in the search for Phantom’s missing past.

“It looks a lot like this virus that hacked into the Bat computer a few years ago,” Tim said. “We caught it pretty fast, and it didn’t seem to have gotten anything, not that we could tell anyway.”

“Could you tell what it’d been after?” he asked.

“It was in the metahuman files,” Tim said.

“That’s definitely suspicious. But aren’t most of those files copies of ones in easier to hack places?” Jason asked, confused why the person who sent the virus would target the Bat computer and not the FBI, or some other organization with less security than Batman. 

“Yeah, they are,” Tim confirmed. “And the version of the code that is this firewall is a lot more powerful than the one that hacked into the Bat computer.” 

“Can you crack it then?” Jason asked. 

“Maybe,” Tim said, uncertain. “It’s smart though. I’m not sure how to come at it.” 

“You’ll figure it out,” Jason said, mostly to encourage Tim than himself. While he wasn’t half bad at hacking, he could break into the GCPD any day of the week, he wasn’t talented like Tim. The kid could hack into just about anything, so to hear he was stumped worried Jason. 

“Yeah, I’ll get it. Just might take some time," he assured Jason. 

“All right then good luck.” He said, and with that ended the call. 

…

Jason had to get back at it, the brief talk with Tim had taken too much time and he heard shouts a few blocks over. He was run ragged and not fully on guard, so he didn’t notice he was being watched at first. He paused on a roof, and looked around. Batman landed in front of him, Robin by his side. 

“Where’s the meta?” Batman asked. 

“His name is Phantom,” Jason said tiredly. “And hello to you too asshole.” 

“Where is he?” Batman repeated. Jason groaned. 

“Oh my god. He took the night off," he said, frustrated that Bats wouldn’t just leave him alone.

“Why?” Batman demanded.

“Cause he over extended his powers yesterday stopping a fire! Damn.” Jason said, clenching his fists at his sides. 

“His powers are unstable?” Batman asked. 

“Did I fucking say his powers were unstable?” Jason looked at him. “Robin, did I say that?” 

“No,” Robin said, clearly sick of Batman’s shit too. “You said he overextended them, which is something most metas can do.” Batman turned a look on Robin and the boy flinched. That only pissed Jason off more. 

“What do you want Bats?” he asked, annoyed. “I thought we already had this fight yesterday.”

“That meta is dangerous Hood,” Batman said, turning back to him. “You can’t count on them. They rely too heavily on their abilities. They aren’t like us.” 

“Phantom is a worthy partner for Red Hood,” Robin cut in. Jason had to admit, he had guts for interrupting a ‘Batman Rant™’. “I tested him myself. While he isn’t as strong of a fighter as I am, he isn’t completely incompetent," he stated confidently.

“You let him fight Robin!?” Batman demanded, taking a step towards Jason. Jason held his ground, and even took a step forward to get in the Bat’s face. He was as tall as him now, and nearly as broad. 

“So what if I did?” Jason asked, his voice too quiet. 

“Would you just leave him alone?” a gravelly voice interrupted. Phantom landed on the roof next to them. Jason was both glad and pissed to see him. He didn’t look good, his normally tan skin was still pale, and Jason saw him limp slightly as he crossed the roof to them. Jason saw that both Batman and Robin noticed too. In a bold move, Phantom braced one hand on Jason’s chest and the other on Batman’s and shoved them apart. There wasn’t nearly as much force behind the motion as there should be, but Jason took a step back. Batman didn’t. He latched his hand around Phantom’s wrist, and Jason saw the panic cross the meta’s face. 

Batman got a green plasma blast straight to the chest that sent him and Phantom stumbling apart. 

“Phantom!” Jason called at the same time Robin yelled, “Batman!” Jason rushed to Phantom as he stumbled back and sat down hard, panting heavily. 

“You okay?” he asked, gripping the meta’s shoulders and looking into his face. He wished once more he could see his friends eyes to better tell how he was doing. Jason didn’t have his guard up properly, and thus didn’t notice Batman behind him until there was a hand on his shoulder and he was violently yanked away from Phantom. 

Jason landed hard on his shoulder and Robin knelt in front of him. The kid was saying something but Jason wasn’t listening, green was swirling in his vision now. He got to his feat and heard Batman say, “I recognize you,” before he slammed into the man and together they fell off the roof. 

It wasn’t a tall building, but they scuffled as they fell and Batman got Jason below him so Jason hit the ground first. The world spun as the force of the impact knocked the wind out of him. Batman got off of him and Jason rolled onto his side, desperately trying to force his lungs to remember how to draw in air. 

Phantom was trying to get at him, but Batman was blocking his way. Jason tried to say something, anything, but there was no air to say anything with. Robin was at his side, helping him to sit up, and Jason heard the sound of a motorcycle. Nightwing leapt off it and immediately shoved Batman away from Phantom. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Batman?!” he berated. Phantom ran to Jason and knelt down next to him. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Fine,” Jason managed, he was starting to breathe normally again, his diaphragm finally getting over it’s shock. “Just had the wind knocked out of me,” he breathed. 

“I tried to stop him,” Robin muttered. Nightwing was still several feet away yelling at Batman, but Jason wasn’t listening. “It’s not your fault Robin.” 

“Let’s get out of here,” Phantom said, pulling Jason to his feet. 

“Are you okay Red Hood?” Oracle asked in his ear. “Sorry for bringing Nightwing into this, but I saw where Batman was headed and figured there’d be trouble.” 

“It’s alright Oracle,” Jason said, as he and Phantom headed away from the scene, slipping into the shadows. 

...

Nightwing caught up to them a while later, as they sat recovering on a roof nearly a mile away. 

“Are you two okay?” he asked cautiously, not coming to close. Jason and he had never really made up, and Jason hadn’t thought there was anything that was going to make him want to. But seeing him stand up to Batman not just for him, but for Phantom who Nightwing didn’t know, almost made Jason reconsider. 

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Jason said. He hoped he wasn’t lying. He was fine, but Phantom was still weak. He shouldn’t be out right now, and definitely shouldn’t be using his powers. He wasn’t sure why Batman grabbing his wrist had spooked him like that, but in combination with the other freakout’s he’d seen the meta have, Jason was sure he’d been seriously abused. 

“I’m sorry I butted in,” Nightwing said, sitting down several feet away from them. “I know you don’t want me here, but I wanted to check on you.” 

“It’s cool,” Jason said casually. Phantom didn’t say anything. He was leaning against Jason with his head resting on Jason’s shoulder. If he hadn’t felt the meta twitch when Nightwing had shown up, he would have thought he was asleep. Nightwing tilted his head as he looked at them, and Jason knew what he was thinking. 

“Look, thanks for the help and all, but you can go back to Bludhaven now,” Jason said bluntly. “We’re good.” 

“Okay,” Nightwing said, and Jason wanted to groan at the smile that crossed the man's face. Nightwing stood. “I’m glad you’re doing well Hood. I’m sorry about Bats.” And with that, he jumped off the roof with an unnecessary flip. Phantom chuckled, so he was watching. 

“If you’re done using me as a pillow, you should go home,” Jason scolded. “What the hell were you doing out anyway?” 

“Oracle warned me Batman was headed toward you,” Phantom admitted, still leaning on Jason. 

“Did she now?” Jason asked, he was going to have to have a talk with her. 

“You can’t see the stars here,” Phantom said, looking up towards the sky. 

“That’s what happens when you live in a city,” Jason said simply. 

“You could see them a little where I grew up,” Phantom said with a wistful note in his voice. “I used to want to be an astronaut,” he admitted. Jason hummed. Phantom had never talked about himself before, and Jason didn’t want to interrupt him. He didn’t know what was happening, with Phantom leaning on him as they looked at the empty sky, but something stirred in his stomach. It was the same feeling he got when he looked at Danny, and suddenly he felt guilty. He still wanted Danny, and now he felt like he was starting to want Phantom too. But he knew, it was unlikely he’d get either. Phantom was only leaning on him because he was still weak, and he was probably talking about the sky to distract Jason from the fight that had just happened. He was just being a good friend. It was unlikely he swung the same way Jason did. And Danny was just a friend too. He was friends with Jason because they both understood what it was like to carry darkness around and have no one else. 

But still, Jason let Phantom lean on him and talk about the stars as they both pretended they could see them past the lights of the city.

...

Jason went home early, leaving the other Bats to take care of the city. He was too tired from the busyness of the night and too mentally worn out from the fight with Bats. He needed a smoke and a beer. The moment he was in his apartment, he was texting Danny without hardly thinking. 

Jason: Hey, are you home?

Danny: Yeah what up?

Jason: Meet me on the fire escape. 

Danny: Sure

Jason washed the dye out of his bangs and threw on a hoodie. Then he grabbed two ciders and his cigarettes and climbed out to find Danny already sitting outside his window on a blanket. He looked wrecked, even more so than he had the night before.

“I thought you took the night off?” Jason asked, settling down on the blanket next to him, thankful for the barrier between his butt and the cold metal. 

“I did,” Danny said slowly, “but I couldn’t sit still, so I went out for a bit. I guess it was a bad idea.” He shrugged. Jason handed him a bottle and lit his cigarette, inhaling the smoke with a deep sigh. Danny didn’t comment on his smoking, he never had. It was something Jason liked about him. 

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, picking up on Jason’s tension. 

“No,” Jason admitted. “I had another run in with Bruce. He showed up at my job to yell at me.” 

“That sucks,” Danny said, tipping his head back to look at the sky. 

“Yeah,” Jason breathed out smoke. “It was a lot easier when he was out of town.” Danny hummed in thought. Jason watched him as his eyes scanned the empty night sky. He was wearing an oversized hoodie against the cold, the stretched out neck showing off a bit of his collar bone. Jason could just see the edge of a thick, gnarly scar before Danny shifted and his clothes covered it again. 

“You can’t see the stars here,” Danny said, breaking the silence. Jason’s back stiffened. It was the exact thing Phantom had said a few hours earlier, and he held his breath as Danny continued, “You could see them a little where I grew up.” It couldn’t be, Jason knew they couldn’t be the same person. Danny’s hair was black, where Phantom’s was white. Phantom had scars on his neck, and he was missing a tooth. Jason knew he could probably cover all that with makeup, but that didn’t explain why Danny kept getting locked out of his apartment. Phantom could walk through walls. It could be a coincidence. Talking about missing the stars wasn’t so uncommon. The silence had started to stretch; Jason had to say something. 

“I’ve never really lived somewhere you could see the stars,” he admitted. 

“We should go out to a mountain or something and see them,” Danny said, casually, like this wasn’t a big deal. Jason’s heart stuttered, and his suspicion was momentarily replaced with hope. Hope that maybe Danny did swing his way, that maybe this thing in his chest would get to be expressed one day. 

“We could go camping,” Jason ventured. He watched as Danny’s expression became far away, remembering something. 

“Yeah,” Danny said, the barest hint of a crack in his voice. “We should.” 

Jason sat in companionable company with Danny a while longer, but he couldn’t escape the lingering idea in the back of his mind that Danny and Phantom might be one in the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me a bit of grief, but I think it came out all right in the end. Let me know what you think? Do you think Danny is starting to share Jason’s suspicions? Please review! Hearing from you all makes my day.


	6. Unlocking Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to thank my new Beta reader DGM100 on Fanfiction.net. She’s amazing and is helping me give you all the highest quality writing I can.

“When are your brothers getting here?” Danny asked. He was seated at Jason’s counter, lazily flipping through his phone. Jason looked up at him from where he was kneading dough. 

“At five,” he answered, looking out the window at the dark howling storm “What time is it?” he asked. 

“Four thirty,” Danny replied. “Is Tim coming all the way from New York?” he asked, as he was still looking through his phone.

“It’s only like two hours,” Jason said, shrugging. 

“That’s still four hours both ways. He must really like your pizza,” Danny teased, punching Jason lightly on the shoulder. 

“I’ve been told it’s worth it,” Jason said. He wasn’t sure if this was flirting or not. 

“Hey Jay?” Danny started, looking up from his phone. 

“Yeah?” Jason asked, curious. 

“Were you serious about the camping thing?” Danny asked. Jason couldn’t get a read on him. He seemed nervous, and maybe, hopeful.

“Of course,” Jason said, sincerely. “Why? Do you want to go?”

“Yeah,” Danny said, half rising out of his seat. “It’s been ages since I went camping, or even just got out of the city.” Jason smiled at his enthusiasm. 

“Okay. I’ll need to get some supplies, I lost most of my stuff when I left Gotham two years ago, but we’ll go.” 

Danny sat back down on the stool, grinning. They talked about what they would buy, and Danny looked up campsites on his phone until there was a knock on the front door. Jason stared at it incredulously, surprised that his brothers even knew how to knock when they always just picked his lock and let themselves in. He dried his hands on a towel as he walked to the door and flipped it onto his shoulder as he said through the door, “Who is it?” 

“Jay, let us in,” Tim said. 

“Hmm,” Jason said, glancing back at Danny who was looking at him curiously. “Sorry, no one here by that name.” 

“Todd! I know that is you. Do not leave us on the front step,” Damian demanded. Jason could just imagine him stomping a foot as he said it.

“Don’t think this counts as a front step,” Jason countered. He heard a growl through the door, and the sound of lock picks in the knob. He latched the security chain, just as Damian attempted to open the door with force. The chain caught and he could just see Damian glaring at him while Tim had his hands over his face. They were both soaking wet from the rain outside. 

“Let me in, Todd!” Damian growled and Jason started to think he’d made a mistake, the bat brat was in a bad mood. 

“Okay okay,” Jason said, surrendering. “You gotta let me close the door first.” Damian glared while he closed the door to unlatch the chain. When he opened it again, Damian stomped inside and shook himself like a dog, soaking Jason. 

“Hey!” he complained while the kid sat down and started pulling off his rain boots, dumping out the water on the linoleum floor. 

“Would you quit that?” Jason demanded, dropping his towel onto the puddle. Tim skirted around Damian and stripped off his rain jacket. He was wet underneath it, the wind clearly having blown the rain up under it. 

“Do you still have that spare change of clothes for us?” Tim asked miserably. 

“Yeah,” Jason said. “Bottom drawer of the dresser,” he gestured to the bedroom. Tim removed his rain boots and wet socks and dripped his way over to the indicated room. He saw Danny and said, “Hey Danny,” before slipping through the door. Damian struggled out of a wet sweater revealing an equally wet t-shirt. He then turned around and glared at the new person. 

“Hi?” Danny said, unsure. Damian threw down his wet clothes in a pile by the door and marched over to Danny. 

“So you are Todd’s friend?” he asked like he didn’t believe it. 

“Todd?” Danny asked, and Damian’s expression changed to panic for a split second before Jason saved him. 

“Damian doesn’t like first names, so he calls me by my middle name,” he explained. Actually, Todd was his last name, but since Jason Peter Todd was legally dead, Jason had made a new identity with the name, Jason Todd Peter, not very original but if it wasn't broken… 

“Oh,” Danny said, understanding. 

“I do not dislike first names!” Damian complained, but declined to explain further. He turned back to Danny. “So what makes you think you are a worthy companion for Todd? Are you courting him?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What?!” Danny said, blushing. He put his hands up in surrender, and Jason recognized the motion not from him, but from Phantom. He stored that observation away for later. 

Tim saved Danny from answering the kid’s question by coming out of Jason’s room in a dry t-shirt and jeans. 

“Really Jason?” he demanded, planning his hands on his hips. Jason looked at him and laughed. He’d forgotten the specifics of clothes he’d bought in his brother's sizes in case of emergency. Tim was wearing a wonder woman t-shirt. 

“What’s the problem?” Danny asked, confused, but grateful for the interruption. 

“Timmy is a Batman fan,” Jason explained. Damian glared at the shirt and then at Jason. 

“I hope the clothes you have procured for me are not so offensive,” he declared as he marched towards the bedroom and slammed the door. 

“Oh god,” Tim said. “I hope you didn’t.” Jason shook his head. 

“I’m not stupid enough to fuck with Bat… Damian,” he said, barely catching himself. Danny didn’t seem to notice, but Tim elbowed him in the ribs as he moved around him to sit down at the counter. The timer on the oven beeped, and Jason went to get his tomatoes out and blend them up. 

Damian came out a few minutes later in a plain black t-shirt and jeans. He didn’t seem happy, but at least he wasn’t being forced to wear a shirt like Tim’s. He scrambled into the stool on the other side of Danny. 

“Why are you wearing a brace on your knee?” he asked, having noticed it. “Are you injured?” Danny looked down at his knee as though he’d forgotten it was there. 

“No,” he said simply. “It’s an old injury. The rain is just making it ache,” he explained. Damian nodded solemnly like he understood. Jason knew he probably did. All the bats had old injuries that storms aggravated, they just hid them. 

“How did you two get so wet?” Danny asked, attempting to make conversation. 

“Drake refused to park in the Narrows,” Damian glared around Danny at Tim. Having had the Jason/Todd thing explained to him, Danny picked up that by Drake, Damian meant Tim. 

“Hey!” Tim complained. “The last time I parked nearby, my front window was smashed when I came back.” 

“That’s what you get for driving that prius around here,” Jason said, pointing a knife at him to emphasize his point. 

“It is not a prius!” Tim complained. Jason shrugged. “It’s a fancy ass girly car and any crook worth his salt is going to break into it," Jason said as he was putting the finishing touches on his pizza sauce. 

“Anyway,” Tim said forcefully. “We parked a few blocks away in a better neighborhood and walked over, and the rain picked up.” 

“More like a hurricane hit,” Damian muttered. Jason was surprised he was starting to use sarcasm. Tim ignored him. 

...

The rest of the night went off without too much squabbling, but as it turned out, Danny was no stranger to sibling fights. He was right there with them as they fought over pizza, which Danny wouldn’t stop praising, or spots on the couch, Danny ended up next to Jason on the couch and about half way through the movie threw his legs over Jason in a way that made it very hard to focus on anything else. Overall, a successful movie night, even if there was popcorn all over his floor from an impromptu popcorn war. 

“Well,” Danny said, looking at his phone. “I have to go get ready for work.” He stood up and stretched, and Jason got up to see him out. 

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “I should probably get Damian back home for the night.” Damian groaned and pulled himself up off the floor. Jason only had a couch and one chair, and Damian pulled the short straw and ended up with neither. Jason let Danny out, then dug through his cabinets and came up with a few plastic grocery bags which he gave to Tim. “For your wet clothes,” he explained. Tim nodded and gathered up their stuff. 

“See you on patrol tonight?” Tim asked quietly as they headed out.

“I’ve got something to do, so I’ll be a little late, but sure,” he agreed. 

Jason did a little more cleaning as he listened to the movement of Danny downstairs. It wasn’t long before he heard the front door open and close, signalling he’d left for work. 

Cautiously, in case Danny came back, Jason crept downstairs and picked the lock. He slipped inside and quietly shut the door behind him. The lights were off, and blackout curtains blocked out any light from the streets. Since the layout was the same as his own apartment, Jason had no trouble finding the light switch. The place was shabby and under furnasched. An old lumpy second hand couch stood opposite a small TV that was perched on a plastic tub. An ikea coffee table sat between the two, covered in old take out containers. Jason held back the desire to clean up. He was here to look for clues that Danny was Phantom. He didn’t know what he might find, but anything would help.

In the kitchen he found only a few dishes, all of which were dirty, and a cabinet full of poptarts and ramen. The bathroom was mostly empty too, just a single towel and axe soap. A decent med kit sat under the sink, but nothing to write home about. There wasn’t anything in it a normal person wouldn’t have. No suture kit even. He abandoned the bathroom and tried the bedroom. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, and a dresser stood open spilling more clothes everywhere. 'Damn this guy is messy,' he thought. Jason was surprised to find there wasn’t a bed. He looked back over at the couch and realized the pillow and blanket on it meant that Danny slept there. He made a mental note to find a way to get the guy a proper bed. 

Jason didn’t find anything incriminating in the bedroom though. He looked through all the clothes, hoping to find something that matched the old getup Phantom wore before he’d gotten a proper suit, or anything with that glowing green stuff on it, but no luck. There was nothing here that indicated Danny was Phantom. That didn’t mean they weren’t the same person, but if they were, then Phantom was careful. He thought that maybe Phantom had a safe house where he stored his suit, after all, Jason had seen him come home from work several times, and he never had a backpack with him, and he couldn’t hide those silver boots under his shirt. 

And with no other clues to support his theory, Jason gave up and headed out for patrol.

...

“Red Hood? Can he talk in private?” Robin asked Jason quietly a few hours later as the four of them patrolled together. Jason stopped and let Phantom and Red Robin get ahead of them. The two of them were chatting about something, but Jason had been ignoring them for a while. 

“Sure,” Jason said, quietly enough that the two vigilantes a few roofs over wouldn't hear. Phantom looked back at them and Jason waved him on. Phantom turned to Red Robin and shrugged before the two continued on a ways. 

“What is it?” Jason asked, turning his full attention on the kid. 

“I have a suspicion that your friend Danny may be Phantom,” Robin said simply. 

“You too huh?” Jason said, looking back at the white haired meta who'd started to spar a bit with Red Robin. He seemed in a very good mood tonight. 

“You suspected this already?” Robin asked, surprised. 

“Yeah,” Jason breathed. “They both said something very similar, but I’m not a hundred percent sure it all lines up. What makes you think they’re the same?” 

“They both move the same way,” Robin said. Jason had to admit, they did move similarly, but Robin would know best. He was raised by the League of Assassins after all; the way people fight and move had been a big part of his childhood. 

“Like what?” Jason asked, wanting to get Robin to think about it for himself and also tell Jason exactly how similar the two guys were. Robin screwed up his face behind the domino in thought. 

“Well, they both make this motion,” Robin said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. Jason hummed in agreement. He’d noticed that too. 

“And they both limp on their right knee,” Robin said. 

“Phantom doesn’t limp,” Jason argued, looking back up at the meta. He was dancing lightly away from Red Robin’s attacks, his feet barely touching the ground. Were they even touching the ground? Jason couldn’t tell from this distance. 

“Phantom does limp,” Robin argued. “I’ve observed it twice. He is disguising it somehow,” the kid reasoned. “I’ve observed him limping when he is weakened or compromised. For example, the other night with Batman when you pushed him off the roof.” Jason had to think. In all the commotion that night, he’d forgotten he’d seen Phantom limping. 

“Okay,” Jason agreed. “But there’s a lot that doesn’t line up.”

“If you shared your observations, perhaps I could find a way in which they do,” Robin said smugly. 

“Danny gets locked out of his apartment,” Jason explained and Robin’s expression turned confused. 

“But he can walk through walls can he not?” Robin asked.

“He can,” Jason agreed. “And I know from experience covering up scars like the ones Phantom has is a pain, and the results are never perfect.” 

“I will have to think about this. Your counter evidence is very inconvenient Hood,” Robin admitted. 

“Hey!” Phantom called waving his arms at them. “What are you two talking about? Let’s get back to work!” 

“He’s really excited tonight,” Jason commented with a slight smile under his hood. Together, both he and Robin caught up with them.

...

The next week passed by with some semblance of routine. Jason woke up, cleaned or built new gear, went shopping, or worked on cases. Then, he met up with Phantom and they patrolled together. Jason was starting to rely on the guy to watch his back. They found a flow, and worked well together. The meta was also a lot smarter than Jason had given him credit for. Once, Jason’s grapple had broken, and with easy motions, Phantom had disassembled it, fixed the issue, and put it back together. He was also becoming quite the talker, rambling at crooks and thugs, throwing them off their game. And he would not stop with the puns. Jason recognised he was slowly opening up. Jason’s worry that he was the same person as Danny took a back seat. 

Then, once their patrol was over, and they’d spit up, Jason went home and invited Danny up. At some point, they’d stopped using the fire escape and Danny just came in through the door. Jason would cook dinner, and they’d talk, and occasionally they’d watch a movie. Danny was turning out to be almost as touchy as Dick was, throwing his legs over Jason’s while they sat on the couch like he had the night Tim and Damian had been over. Danny would find excuses to touch Jason’s arms or shoulders, bumping into him when they walked past each other, it was all sending his heart fluttering. They were becoming comfortable with each other. 

And so, everything was comfortable, and quiet, until it wasn’t. 

Red Hood and Phantom had been hearing talk of a body snatcher stealing fresh corpses and selling their organs on the black market. They hadn’t looked too much into it, until people started to go missing, only to turn up with a missing kidney, or part of their liver, if they came back at all. Oracle had helped trace what she could, and finally, after a week of searching, they found their man. 

The door to the supposedly abandoned two story house splintered as Jason’s boot kicked it open. Instantly, the smell of blood and rot rose up to assault his senses. Jason ramped up his helmet’s filters. He heard a bang as Phantom kicked in the back door. Their perp was in here somewhere, and now they had both exits covered. The plan was to sweep the house, but as it turned out, they didn’t have to. A shape whirled out of the shadows, a knife raised to strike Jason. But he was too slow. Jason fired a rubber bullet into the man's knee, and he went down. 

Phantom appeared from where the man had come, he hit him on the back of the head to knock him out and snatched up the knife. Jason then came over towards them. He quickly zip tied the asshole's hands behind his back. One twisted organ seller caught. Easy. 

“You good?” Phantom asked. He had a hand up covering his nose and mouth against the horrid stench. Jason nodded. 

“Let’s find the source of that smell,” Jason said, already dreading it. 

As they walked, Jason saw Phantom was limping, though he hadn’t been when they entered, and his face was pale. The conversation he’d had with Robin rose up to meet him, but he shoved it down. He didn’t have time for that thought. But something was clearly bothering Phantom, and Jason figured it was the thought of what was causing the stench. 

They followed the smell to the kitchen, and the sight even made Jason want to hurll. Bodies lay in heaps, their chest’s cut open with Y shaped incisions; their ribs broken open with practiced ease. Filthy medical tools and other less refined instruments lay scattered around the room. It was horrible. 

Phantom took a step back from the doorway and Jason glanced over at him. He’d never seen the meta look so scared before, but now he looked about ready to bolt at any second.

“Keep it together Phantom,” it came out like an order. “We need to search the rest of the place for survivors.” Phantom nodded, though he still looked shaken. They didn’t find any, just coolers of organs. 

By the time the authorities had shown up, and Jason was handing their crook over, Phantom had vanished. 

…

Jason dragged himself home. He was glad that they’d caught the guy, but it was still rough to see that kind of shit. He showered in scalding water, trying to get the imagined filth of the place off, and the stench out of his nose with too much soap. When the water ran cold, he got out and dressed. Usually, Danny had let himself into his apartment by now, they’d exchanged keys by that point, but he wasn’t there yet. They didn’t always hang out in the evenings, but usually Danny texted when he wasn’t up for it. 

Jason checked his phone, but he didn’t have any messages, so he texted Danny instead. 

Jason: Not up for dinner today? 

He set the phone on the counter and looked through his fridge for leftovers. He found some fried rice, and set a pan on the stove. It was a lot tastier to re-fry it than to put it in the microwave. He checked his phone once the rice was done, but Danny still hadn’t messaged back, which was unlike him. Jason walked around his apartment, listening. The floors were thin, so he could often hear what Danny was doing if he was quiet. Sure enough, he could hear the shower running below his feet. Figuring that was why Danny hadn’t messaged him back, he settled down on the couch to eat his food. 

When Danny still hadn’t responded by the time he was done, and the shower downstairs was still running, Jason got worried. There was no way the water was still hot, and his friend hated cold showers. He was forever complaining about the lack of hot water. Jason grabbed the key to Danny’s apartment and headed down. He knocked first, but when there was no answer, and the shower kept running, he went in. 

Despite all the time Danny spent in Jason’s apartment, Jason had rarely been in his. The place was still shabbily furnished. The lights were off, and with the black out curtains, Jason couldn’t make out much. 

“Danny?” he called, but got no answer. He went to the bathroom door and knocked. “Danny? You in there?” No response. “Hey, you okay?” Still nothing. "I’m coming in.” He slowly opened the door. Only a dim bulb illuminated the space, and Jason saw Danny, fully clothed, except for his socks and shoes, sitting on the floor of the shower with his knees pulled up to his chest. He was soaking wet, water still pouring down on him. 

“Danny?” Jason asked, softly. He knelt down next to the tub, and gently touched him on the shoulder. Danny violently flinched away, his eyes closed tight. Jason pulled back. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jason said, gently. “It’s just me. I’m going to turn the water off now okay? It’s gone cold.” Danny didn’t react to this, so Jason reached behind him to turn off the water. He was shivering, whether from the cold or the severe panic attack he was currently having, Jason couldn’t tell. 

“Hey, we need to get you out of those wet clothes, okay?” Jason tried, but Danny didn’t seem like he was going to be coaxed out of this state. He’d started rubbing his wrists, a motion Jason hadn’t seen him do before. 

“I’m not going to hurt you okay?” Jason said, not sure he was being heard but wanting to give Danny every chance to show if he wasn’t okay with this. “I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” Danny didn’t react, so slowly Jason touched him again, and this time he didn’t flinch away. Jason slowly slipped one arm beneath his knees, and wrapped the other around his back. He lifted Danny out of the tub, and held him to his chest. The wet clothes added several pounds, but he was still an easy burden for Jason. 

On his way out of the bathroom Jason grabbed the lone towel. He carried the dripping Danny to the bedroom. It was darker here then the rest of the apartment, but he didn’t turn on a light. Even so, in the dimness he could make out clothes still all over the floor. He set Danny down, and using the light of his phone's screen, rummaged around for clean clothes. He found a pair of sweatpants, fresh boxers, and a t-shirt that looked worn out. 

“Can you get changed on your own?” Jason asked as he knelt with the clothing next to Danny. He wasn’t really surprised when his friend didn’t respond. “You’ll get sick if you stay wet,” Jason urged, but still Danny seemed lost inside himself. “Are you okay if I dress you?” He got no negative reaction to this, so Jason slowly pulled Danny’s shirt off. Danny didn’t fight him, letting him strip the soaking thing off. Jason couldn’t see much in the darkness, but his fingers brushed over scars, and he was suddenly glad he didn’t turn on the light. It wouldn’t be right for him to see this without Danny’s consent. He dried Danny’s skin and hair with the towel, before putting him in the dry shirt. 

With as much care as he could, keeping his eyes averted, he removed Danny’s soaking jeans and boxers, dried off his lower half as quickly as he could and put him in the new underwear and sweats. It was challenging, as Danny didn’t seem to want to stand on his own, but Jason managed. With that awkward task complete, Jason picked him up again. He could still feel Danny trembling as he held him to his chest, though it was a bit less than before. 

Jason scanned the room and remembered the lack of a bed. With a sigh he carried his charge out into the living room and eyed the couch. Sure enough, there was still a pillow and blanket on the old, lumpy thing. 

“There’s no way I’m letting you sleep on that tonight,” he said, mostly to himself. His decision made, Jason headed for the door, grabbing Danny’s phone from where it lay on the counter on his way out. He took his friend up to his apartment and set him down in his bed. When he tried to pull away, he found a hand fisted in his shirt. He looked at Danny. His eyes were still far away, but he was clearly conscious enough to know Jason was leaving him. 

“I just need to change,” Jason said softly. “I’m soaked. I’ll be right back hon.” Danny let him go and he grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the bathroom to change. When he came back, Danny was laying on the other side of the bed, curled up into a ball. His breathing had softened into deep even breaths of sleep. With a deep sigh of relief, Jason grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket and went to sleep on the couch.

...

The next morning, or more accurately, evening, Jason was making breakfast when Danny emerged from his bedroom. He had his phone clutched in his hand, and a sheepish look on his face. 

“Hey,” Jason greeted softly. 

“Hey,” Danny said back. “Sorry about... I…” he looked lost, and Jason quickly crossed the room to get to him, gripping him gently by the shoulders. He tried to meet Danny's eyes, but Danny wouldn’t look at him. 

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize,” Jason said. Danny shook his head. 

“You shouldn’t have had to see that,” Danny argued. Jason bit his lip. 

“I don’t know what happened, and you don’t have to tell me, but I do understand Danny. And I don’t blame you for it. I’m just glad I was there. I tried to help...”

“You did help,” Danny interrupted, meeting his eyes. His beautiful blue eyes were liquid and sad. “I don’t remember everything, but I remember you," he said with a wistful tone.

“I’m glad,” Jason said with a smile, and then pulled him into a hug. Danny hesitated for a second before hugging him back. They stood like that for a while, and when Danny finally pulled away, he looked into Jason’s eyes like he was searching for something, and then, he kissed him. Jason was surprised for a second but kissed him back earnestly, his heart thundering in his chest the entire time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your support! Please review, I love hearing from you.


	7. A Little Slice of Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just letting you know that my Beta reader DGM100 helped me edit the older chapters, so they will be re-uploaded today. You don’t have to reread them though, the edits aren’t major.

Jason could not get enough of kissing Danny. 

The sounds of the forest at night leaked through the thin walls of the tent. Jason lay on his back, a soft sleeping bag under him. Danny sat on his hips, his knees on either side of Jason, his hands pressed against the ground on either side of his head. And they were kissing, and Jason couldn’t get enough of it. He gripped Danny’s hips tightly, holding him in place. Danny’s teeth nipped at his lip, and Jason slid his hands up, under Danny’s shirt. His fingers felt the edges of scars and Danny stiffened. 

“Sorry,” Jason said softly, pulling his hands away. Danny sat up, pulling his mouth away from Jason’s. 

“It’s okay,” he muttered in a way Jason knew meant it wasn’t. 

“If that’s too far, I won’t okay,” Jason tried. “We can just kiss.” Danny sat for a moment, straddling Jason’s hips, thinking. 

“Okay,” he agreed and leaned back down to Jason’s lips. Jason gladly resumed his exploration of Danny’s mouth with his tongue. Even through the sleeping bag, Jason felt a rock start to dig into his back, so he sat up, bringing Danny with him. In the motion, he’d grabbed one of Danny’s wrists and it wasn’t until he tried to kiss him again that he’d realized Danny had frozen up again. He let go and Danny scrambled back away from him, only stopping once his back hit the wall of the tent. 

‘Fuck,’ Jason thought. ‘I’m shit at this.’

“I’m sorry,” Jason said hurriedly. He didn’t know what he’d done, but clearly it’d been wrong. 

“It’s not your fault,” Danny mumbled, looking like a spooked animal. Jason held out his arms and Danny hesitated, before scooting back over to him. Jason pulled him to his chest and together they lay down. Jason played with this boyfriend's hair as he laid his head on Jason’s chest. 

‘Am I ever going to get this right?’ Jason wondered to himself. They’d been dating for two weeks now, and it was strange, but wonderful. The kissing was great, it wasn’t something Jason had ever really done before. Sure he’d had hookups, but there wasn’t usually a lot of kissing with those, at least, not of the same variety. That was more of a lustful sloppy affair, whereas kissing Danny was slow and careful. Danny had also started to spend the night’s with Jason, curled up together in his bed that was too big for one person anyway. 

It's been a little awkward on patrol though. Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that Phantom and Danny were too similar, and yet, they couldn’t find any evidence they were the same person. Robin hadn’t been able to come up with an explanation for their clear differences, and Jason could without a doubt confirm Danny wasn’t covering up any scars on his neck with makeup. Jason had kissed it enough to be sure of that. And Tim hadn’t made any progress with the weird firewall, so no luck figuring out Phantom’s past. Jason knew he was going to have to ask Danny eventually. Hell, he was going to have to tell Danny he was Red Hood before he figured it out on his own. 

But Jason wasn’t ready for that. Right now, everything just felt normal in a way Jason had never had the chance to know. He didn’t want to let this one perfect thing be consumed by his crazy, dangerous, un-normal life. 

…

That night, Jason had a nightmare. It was his usual night terror, his mother tricking him, the Joker catching him. Being beaten, dying, clawing his way from the grave, but then it changed. Batman rushed him. Batman hit him. And then Robin, and Red Robin, and Nightwing were there, and they were attacking him, and Jason was fighting back. Jason was losing. 

Jason felt a hand grab his shoulder and he lunged forward, fingers tightening around his attackers neck. Green swirled in his vision, feeding on his rage, giving him strength. Hands clawed at his wrists but he only tightened his hold, and then his vision cleared, and Jason saw he wasn’t choking the life out of an enemy, his hands were closed around Danny’s throat. His face turning purple. 

In horror, Jason threw himself back, releasing Danny in the process, slamming into the wall of the tent sending the whole thing shuddering. Danny coughed and spluttered, trying to get in air. 

“Jay?” he gasped, and Jason bolted around him for the tent opening. With trembling hands he unzipped it and burst out into the night air. Barefoot he headed for the tree line, not thinking, just letting his mind go blank as he threw his fist into a tree. It hurt. He did it again. And again. And again. And again, beating his anger, fear, and frustration out into the bark. Something touched the back of his shoulder and he whirled, throwing his back against the tree. Danny stood there, a blanket around his shoulders to stave off the night chill. He looked sad, and Jason saw the bruises forming around his neck, the bruises Jason had caused. 

“Jason,” Danny pleaded, but Jason didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear Danny curse him, or even worse, forgive him. Jason didn’t deserve that. He slipped around Danny and walked to the firepit. He’d let the fire burn out hours ago, but now, he threw more logs from their pile into the pit, and hunted around the camp for the lighter fluid. He noticed dimly that Danny sat down in one of their camp chairs by the unlit fire. Jason found the lighter fluid and a box of matches. He squirted the entire contents of the bottle onto the logs and barely noticed Danny scoot his chair several feet away. He took a step back, lit a match, and threw it onto the fire. 

The fire roared to life with a whoosh of light and heat. Jason watched the blaze eat up the liquid before sinking into his chair, completely exhausted. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, his elbows propped on his knees. 

He was now actutly aware of Danny moving his chair next to him and sitting down. Danny didn’t say anything for a while, just sat with him and watched the fire. Jason kept his head in his hands. The lighter fluid burned away and the dry logs caught, crackling happily. 

“I’m okay you know,” Danny said softly, his voice rough. Jason flinched. “You were having a nightmare and I tried to wake you,” Danny explained. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason whispered too softly. 

“Huh?” Danny said, not having heard. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason said louder, not lifting his head from his hands. “I’m sorry I’m so messed up. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I keep finding your triggers,” Danny flinched a bit at this. “And I’m sorry I suck at being your boyfriend.” 

“You don’t suck at being my boyfriend,” Danny said gently. Jason groaned. Danny touched his shoulder and Jason forced himself not to flinch. Then Danny touched his knuckles, and he did flinch, because it hurt. 

“You’re bleeding,” Danny said and got up. Jason pulled his head out of his hands to look at his knuckles. They were bleeding, and for a moment Jason didn’t understand why, then he remembered the tree. Danny came back and sat his chair in front of Jason before sitting. He had a medical kit in his lap, and was holding a bottle of water and some paper towels. 

“Will you let me fix you up?” he asked. Jason nodded and Danny took one of his hands into his. He poured the water over Jason’s knuckles to wash out the blood and tree bark, then he slathered the wounds with ointment before wrapping them up. He repeated the process with Jason’s other hand. He worked silently, and Jason didn’t know what to say. 

“There,” he said when he was done, holding both of Jason’s larger hands in his own. 

“Thanks,” Jason said numbly.

They sat in silence for a long moment. 

“Let’s go for a hike,” Danny blurted out of nowhere. 

“What?” Jason asked, lifting his head to look at him. 

“Hiking,” Danny said, getting to his feet and dragging Jason with him. “Let’s grab our flashlights and walk the trail.” He looked down at Jason’s bare feet. “And put your boots on,” he added. 

Jason just felt numb, but he put on his socks and boots when Danny handed them to him. He heard shuffling in the tent and Danny came out with two flashlights. He handed one to Jason, and after zipping the tent, and throwing dirt on the fire, they walked side by side through the camp site. 

They passed only a few other tents and campers as they went; most people didn’t camp in the fall. At the head of the trail, Danny clasped Jason’s hand in his, and led him through the dark forest. 

Their flashlights sweep swaths of light across the dark trees. Animals rustled in the shrubs and Danny pressed himself against Jason for warmth, though Jason wasn’t sure that would help much, he ran a few degrees colder than most people. 

“What was your nightmare about?” Danny asked into the quiet. 

“I don’t remember,” Jason said, because he didn’t. He could guess at what it had been, but it wasn’t something he could tell Danny about unless he also told him he was Red Hood. 

“It must have been bad,” Danny said. Jason stopped walking. Danny took another step forward before he realized, and turned so he was facing Jason, but didn’t let go of his hand. 

“What?” Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Will you stop pretending that I didn’t just almost kill you?” Jason said, trying not to raise his voice. 

“Jay,” Danny tried, but Jason bowled him over and kept talking. 

“Look at your neck Danny! How are you going to hide that? How can you just ignore what I did?” Jason’s voice was cracking. 

“Jason,” Danny tried again. 

“I’m dangerous, and I hurt you,” Jason said, tears streaming down his face as he fell to his knees. Danny’s tight grip on him dragging him to the ground too. 

“Why are you just okay with this?” Jason sobbed. Danny pulled Jason to his chest, and let him cry into his shirt. 

“It’s not your fault love,” Danny said. “Next time I’ll throw a pillow at you or something, okay?” 

Jason didn’t say anything to that, he just buried his face deeper within Danny’s chest and sobbed, releasing all his pent up emotions.

...

Eventually, Jason cried himself out, and Danny pulled him to his feet. They contained up the trail in companionable quiet. Eventually, they reached the look out, an expanse of rocky cliffs overlooking Gotham and in the distance, Metropolis and Bludhaven. They just looked like distant sparkling lights from way up here.

Danny pulled the blanket that was still around his shoulders off and set it on the smoothest patch of rock. They sat down and Danny lay his head on Jason’s shoulder. 

“Look up,” Danny urged when Jason was still trying to trace the familiar streets of his home. 

“Woah,” Jason breathed. All the night sky lay bare before them, sparkling with a thousand tiny stars. 

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. He lay back and put his hands behind his head. Jason copied him and Danny pointed out constellations for him. 

“Woah, check it!” Danny exclaimed half rising when a shooting star streaked across the sky. 

“Make a wish,” Jason said softly. Danny chuckled and settled back down. 

“What’d you wish for?” Jason asked. 

“Can’t tell you that,” Danny said indignant. “Or it won’t come true.” 

They both laughed a little as they continued to look up into the starry night sky.

…

“Jason?” Danny asked. They were sitting on Jason’s couch, Danny’s legs across Jason’s lap. Jason was cleaning a gun on the coffee table and Danny had a bowl of popcorn on his chest, watching a movie. 

“Yeah?” Jason asked, not looking up from his work. 

“Can you teach me how to shoot?” Danny asked. Jason looked at him and saw the eagerness in his blue eyes. 

“You live in Gotham, and you don’t know how to shoot!?” Jason demanded incredulously. 

“I never had the chance,” Danny admitted with a shrug. 

“Yeah, let me just finish this,” Jason said, gesturing to the hand gun in pieces on the table. 

“Huh?” Danny said, not understanding. 

“Let me put this back together and we’ll go,” Jason explained further. 

“Go where?” Danny pulled his feet off Jason’s lap and sat up on the couch, facing him. 

“To the gun range,” Jason said, not looking up from the weapon, though he could put it back together blindfolded. 

“Right now?” Danny asked, still confused. 

“Yes right now,” Jason said fondly with an eye roll. “You should know how to operate a gun, and you should have one." Jason's fingers flew over the gun.

“Don’t you have to have a license or something to own a gun?” Danny asked, worried. 

“Sorta,” Jason admitted. “But no one in Gotham owns a gun legally. I’ll just give you one of mine. There,” Jason said, fitting the last piece of his weapon in place. He pulled out the clip, loaded in the rounds, and snapped it back in. He double checked the safety was still on before slipping the weapon into his waistband, where it always stayed.

“Come on,” Jason said, standing and gesturing for Danny to do the same. “Go put some shoes on.” 

…

“No, squeeze the trigger, don’t pull it,” Jason corrected as Danny’s shot missed the target. 

“What’s the difference?” Danny asked, his voice too loud with the ear plugs in. 

“Intent, and control,” Jason said, fixing Danny’s stance and moving his fingers till he was gripping the handgun correctly. “Breath out just before you fire. It’ll help keep your hands steady,” he advised. Danny tried again, and this time, his shot hit dead on, right through the paper target's head. Jason grinned in pride. 

“Good. Now do it again,” he directed. Danny let out a breath and fired three shots, all in a tight cluster over the target's heart. 

“You’re a really good shot, Danny,” he admitted, surprised. Danny grinned at him, and Jason’s heart fluttered. He wondered if it was ever going to stop doing that. 

“My friends and I used to shoot a lot, ugh, with paintballs and BB guns,” he finished after having paused awkwardly in the middle of his sentence. Jason figured it was because he didn’t like remembering that those friends were dead. 

“Well it’s paying off,” Jason admitted. “Now, let’s reload your gun. You remember how to remove the clip?” 

At Danny’s nod Jason directed him to his next target, all the while thinking of how proud he was of his boyfriend. 

…

  
  


“You okay?” Jason asked Tim as he sat down across from him and Danny. They were in a coffee shop near Gotham University and Wayne Enterprises. 

“Yeah,” Tim said, sipping on his ungodly surgery concoction that Jason barely considered coffee. “Just a long day at the office. We’re so close to a breakthrough on this light refracting camouflage scale, I just know it,” Tim grumbled. “Thanks for dragging me out though. I needed a break.” 

“You’re making camouflage?” Danny asked, confused. He wasn’t drinking coffee, after the last time Jason had given him caffeine, he’d vowed to never do it again. As consolation, Danny was chowing down on a muffin. 

“Sorta,” Tim said. “It’s more like an invisibility cloak. The scales should bend the light around the wearer so they’re almost impossible to see.” 

“That sounds awesome!” Danny said, enthused. 

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “Image the stealth applications.” They were interrupted by a crash as someone right next to their table dropped a plate. 

“Danny?!” a dark skinned girl exclaimed. She looked to be about the same age as Danny. Her tightly curled hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. She was short and rounded, but by no means out of shape. Jason could see she had muscle beneath her oversized hoodie. He guessed she was a college student by the backpack and lanyard. 

“Val?!” Danny said, standing up from his seat next to Jason. The girl pulled him into a fierce hug, which Jason was interested to see Danny returned in kind. When she pulled away she gripped his upper arms and looked him up and down like she was checking for damage. Her eyes lingered on the scarring on his arms. 

“You’re alive?” she said, her voice soft and unsure. 

“Yeah, sorry,” Danny said. He sat back down next to Jason and the girl sat next to Tim, who looked miffed at being made to scoot over. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason interrupted. “But how do you two know each other?” 

“Oh!” Danny said as though he realized he’d been rude. “Jason, Tim, this is Valerie, we went to high school together. Valerie, this is my boyfriend Jason and his brother Tim,” he said gesturing to everyone as appropriate. 

“Boyfriend?” Valerie asked, interested. 

“Uh, yeah?” Danny said, rubbing the back of his head, unsure. 

“I’m glad you’re doing well,” Valerie said. “But seriously! How could you just let us all think you were dead?!” she swatted his arm. “Everyone was devastated when you all died.” 

“I’m sorry,” Danny said, solemnly. “But they thought I  _ was _ dead for a while, and after all the confusion was sorted out, I wasn’t really in a place to deal with it in the right way,” Danny said, not meeting her eyes. 

“Hey,” Valerie said softly, placing a hand over Danny’s. Something flared in Jason’s stomach, and he was shocked to find that it was jealousy. He could tell that Danny and Valerie had been a thing at some point. 

“I understand,” Valerie continued. “It was hard on everyone back home, but it must have been the worst for you.” 

“Yeah,” Danny said, finally meeting her eyes. 

“Everyone moped around school for a month, even Dash was sad,” she explained. 

“Dash?” Danny said, unbelieving. 

“Well, in his own way,” Valerie allowed, a smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. 

Jason still didn’t know the details of the accident that had taken Danny’s family and closest friends. He never seemed to want to talk about it, and Jason didn’t think it was his place to push when  _ he _ was still hiding so much from Danny.

“It’s great to know you’re alive though,” Valerie said, removing her hand from atop Danny’s and sitting up. “Wait till I tell everyone back home.”

“No!” Danny said desperately. “Please Val, don’t tell them,” he begged. 

“Why?” she asked, blinking at him. 

“Please don’t. I’m... finally in a good place, I don’t need them dragging it all up again,” he said, fear in his voice. Valerie still looked like she didn’t understand.

“But, they all think you’re dead,” she said dumbly. 

“Please Val. Please promise me you won’t tell them,” he kept trying. Jason laced his fingers through Danny’s and squeezed, offering comfort. Danny squeezed back. 

“Yeah, okay,” she finally relented. An alarm buzzed and Valerie pulled out her phone and cursed. “Crap, I’m late for class. Give me your number and we’ll catch up more later.” Danny gave it to her and she bolted. An employee of the coffee shop came over with a broom and dustpan to clean up the broken plate. 

“Sorry about that,” Tim told her as she cleaned up the mess. 

“Well that happened,” Jason said to break the awkward mood. 

“Yeah,” Danny breathed. 

After that their conversation slowly drifted back to the cloaking device Tim was working on. 

...

“Red Hood, Phantom, come in,” Oracle said over the coms. Jason and Phantom stopped on the roofs, looking at each other curiously. 

“This is Red Hood,” Jason said into his com. “I’m with Phantom. What’s wrong?” 

“Have either of you heard from Red Robin in the past few days?” Oracle asked. Jason could hear the worry in her voice. 

“Last I saw him was out of masks two days ago,” Jason admitted, he thought he understood what was going on. He looked at Phantom who shrugged. 

“I haven’t heard from him in at least a week,” Phantom said plainly. “What’s wrong?” he asked Oracle. 

“So you saw him two days ago Hood? Can you tell me where?” Oracle asked, ignoring the question. Jason glanced at Phantom. If he was Danny, then saying he’d met Tim at the coffee shop would give his identity as Red Hood away. He switched to a private line with Oracle, cutting Phantom from the conversation. 

“It was at that coffee shop on Main and 2nd,” Jason said softly. “I met him there with Danny.” Jason switched the line back to include Phantom again, who was looking at him with a suspicious expression. 

“Okay, Hood, that means you were the last person to see Red Robin,” Oracle said, keys clacking in the background. 

“Wait, he’s missing?” Phantom asked. 

“Yes,” Oracle said, confirming Jason’s fears. “He went missing two days ago. I have security footage of him out as Red Robin from after you saw him Red Hood, but only a few minutes before he disappears off the grid.” 

“Has there been a note?” Jason asked, his voice dark. Phantom looked at him like he understood. 

“Not yet,” Oracle admitted. “But we are hoping for one. Whoever caught him knows how we operate. They disabled all of his tracking devices.” 

“Fuck,” Jason swore. “What’s the plan?” he asked, all business. 

“Batman wants you at the cave, Hood,” Oracle started. 

“No way,” Jason cut her off. “I’m staying in the field.” Thoughts swirled through Jason’s head. Red Robin kidnapped, and Batman wants to bench him? He supposed there could be another reason the Bats wanted him at the cave, but he couldn’t think of one. Jason didn’t compare to Oracle when it came to monitoring the coms and computers, and with all the fights they’d gotten into recently, it wasn’t to group up. No, if Batman wanted Jason at the cave, it was to bench him. But why? Only one reason came to mind. 

“Have you checked Arkham?” Jason asked, his throat going dry. 

“Hood,” Oracle warned. 

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Jason said softly. 

“Yeah,” Oracle breathed. “It’s him.” 

"Who?" Phantom asked, his voice equally quiet.

"The Joker," Jason growled.

The Joker. The name rang in Jason's ears as his vision filled with green. The Joker was out, and he had Jason’s brother. And by god he was going to do everything in his power to get him back. He wasn’t going to let another Robin die by that monster's hand. If Jason had his way, someone _ would  _ die tonight, but it wasn't going to be Tim. Red Hood was out for blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but things are about to get serious. Please review!


	8. I Won't Lose You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna say, I looked at so many maps of Gotham trying to figure out the layout of the City for this chapter, and none of them really agreed.

“Hello Batsy!” Joker’s voice rang through the coms; he was using Red Robin’s connection to talk to them. 

“Joker,” Batman growled from his end of the line. 

“So you’ve finally noticed that you’re little birdy has flown the coop eh?. Took you long enough,” Joker cackled. 

“Where is he?” Jason growled.

“Oh, is that my favorite Robin?” Joker asked. “How’s the new life? Is it a blast?” he asked cruelly. 

“Enough Joker,” Batman interpreted. “Where’s Red Robin?”

“Now now, you know I can’t just give him to you. Let’s play a little game Batsy! I’ve put your little birds trackers all over the city! Better find the right one though, or I might just clip his wings.” Jokers ear splitting laugh ran through the coms before it cut off with static. 

“Joker!” Batman yelled anyway, but the clown was gone. 

“Shit,” Jason swore, punching the brick wall of the alley he and Phantom were standing in. Batman and Robin were somewhere else in the city, and Nightwing was on his way from Bludhaven. They’d all heard the Joker. 

“What do we do?” Oracle asked, trying to rally them. 

“We split up,” Jason said firmly, he didn’t trust Batman to handle this correctly. “Oracle, do you have the signals yet?” 

“Yes,” she said with forced calm. “They’re popping up all over the city.”

“Show me,” Batman said. Oracle sent all of them the map. It popped up inside Jason’s helmet and he studied it. Little red dots littered the city, at least eighty of them, certainly more than Red Robin would have had on him. 

“There are too many,” Jason said. 

“I know,” Oracle agreed. “It looks like the Joker cloned the signal. He could make hundreds if he wants.” 

“We’ll have to check all of them,” Batman said from his end of the line. 

“Like hell we will,” Jason argued. “He could keep throwing these signals out forever! Hell, RR might not even be one of these!” 

“Is there any way to narrow it down Oracle?” Batman asked. 

“I’ll try to find cameras near the signals,” she said. Jason could hear her typing furiously on her computers. “I might be able to rule out a few. You should check the places that would be easiest to keep a hostage first. The McDonalds on Main Street is unlikely, as are many others.”

“Show me,” Batman ordered. Dozens of lights turned to X’s indicating the ones that were unlikely to be Tim. About 35 remained. Still more than Jason would like, but more manageable. 

“We split up,” Jason said again. 

“No,” Batman said. “That’s too much of a risk.” 

“Every second RR is in the Joker's hand is too much of a risk!” Jason argued back. “Nightwing, what’s your ETA?” he asked, overriding the Bat’s authority. Nightwing, who had been quiet through the whole exchange spoke up. 

“Ten minutes to Gotham city limits,” he said briefly. 

“Nightwing, you take the locations in Downtown,” Batman instructed, taking over. “Robin and I will take the Uptown.” 

“We need to split up!” Jason argued. 

“It’s not safe for anyone to go alone,” Batman said, a warning in his voice. “The Joker will have Red Robin well guarded, we’ll need help to fight our way in to rescue him. Red Hood, you and Phantom take the Narrows, Crime Ally, and Midtown. Keep in constant communication. Don’t turn your coms off.” 

“Understood,” Nightwing said simply. Jason grumbled but assented. 

“I’ve got Batgirl and Black Bat incoming,” Oracle added. “Their ETA is an hour.”

“Send them to help Nightwing when they arrive,” Batman directed. “You all have your orders,” he said, the signal for them to get moving. 

“Let’s go,” Jason said to Phantom, as they rushed toward the first location. 

…

“God damn it!” Jason yelled as he crushed another tracker underboot. Each time they found the signal, all that was there was one of these tiny little devices with a blinking light. He crushed each one and left. There weren’t even any guards to slow them down. It was all very strange. 

“Batman, we’ve got a problem,” Oracle said through the coms, worry in her voice. 

“Go ahead Oracle,” Batman said. Jason could hear the forced calm in his words. 

“More signals are popping up throughout the city,” she explained. Jason cursed. He should have known the Joker wasn’t going to let them find Red Robin. It was likely that none of these signals were really him. 

“Can you find out if they are being activated remotely?” Nightwing asked. He had made it to Gotham and the girls had joined him. The three of them were busy sweeping Downtown, on the south end of Gotham. 

“It doesn’t look like it,” Oracle explained. “From the pictures you’ve sent, the devices aren’t advanced enough to be activated remotely, someone is turning them on and hiding them. Hang on,” she interrupted herself. “I’ve got video of Joker goons setting them up in Uptown. If I can just run a search on all the security footage for the last few hours, there!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “I’ve narrowed it down.” Dots on Jason’s map started to disappear as Oracle removed them. Only a handful remained, three in Downtown, four in Uptown, and one in Midtown, right smack in the middle of the Narrows. 

“These are the ones I can’t discount as being falsely set,” she explained. “If any of these signals are Red Robin, it’s one of these eight.” 

“We’re on it,” Jason said, and the others affirmed, their spirits higher. Jason threw himself onto his bike, he’d picked it up earlier, and Phantom leapt onto the back, wrapping his arms around Jason’s waist. He’d been right by Jason’s side all night, keeping out of the bickering on the coms, and doing what he could to speed their search along. He’d blasted open locked doors and slipped intangible into buildings to find the signal devices. Jason hadn’t really acknowledged him, or given him the credit he deserved though, he was too distracted by the possible fate of his brother. 

Now, as they sped towards the signal in the Narrows, Jason heard the others on the coms give negatives as they found their signals, but not Red Robin. Jason bent low over the handlebars. A heavy feeling settled in his gut. 

He skidded the bike to a stop outside an abandoned office building. The bike crashed onto its side on the sidewalk and he didn’t bother to right it as he bolted for the boarded up door, Phantom hot on his heels. 

The old wood splintered under his boot and they burst inside, right into a hailstorm of bullets. Jason felt several impact his chest before Phantom was in front of him, a green shield blocking the projectiles. 

“I can’t hold this for long,” Phantom ground out. Jason took in the situation as fast as he could. A dozen Joker goons surrounded the clown himself, who was in turn standing over a limp bound body on the floor. Red Robin, his hands tied behind his back, covered in blood. Joker held a crowbar loosely in his hand, also coated in blood. Jason saw green and wanted nothing more than to shoot the Joker’s brains out right then and there. But he knew he had to keep his composure so that he didn’t hurt anybody on his side. Jason forced himself to reign in his anger.

“Well well well,” Joker said after he signaled his goons to stop firing. Phantom dropped his shield and fell to his knees, gasping for air. Jason stepped in front of his partner, his fingers itching to pull the gun from his waistband, the one loaded with real bullets. 

“I must admit, I was hoping for Bats,” Joker said, sounding displeased. 

“Sorry to disappoint,” Jason said, a smile in his voice. The coms exploded with noise in his ear, but he ignored it. Phantom had gotten back to his feet behind him, and Jason acted. He pulled the gun from his waistband as the meta lunged for the goons. They fired at him but Phantom just went intangible and kept going, colliding with several of them and bringing them to the ground where he froze them to the floor. Jason chased Joker who’d roughly picked up the unconscious Red Robin, thrown him over his shoulder, and ran for the stairs. Jason sprinted after him, bouncing off of walls as he hurtled up the stairwell. 

He caught up to the Joker on the roof, where he was holding the limp Red Robin in front of himself like a shield, right on the edge of the drop. 

“What are you going to do little lost bird?” Joker taunted. “You wouldn’t kill me?” he asked sweetly. “Daddy Batsy wouldn’t like that now would he? Look, there he is now!” Joker looked behind himself over the edge of the roof, where the Batmobile had just pulled up. Jason could see Batman get out and look at them, but he couldn’t make out the man’s expression. 

Jason's mind calmed and focused to a single point. With the gun in his hand, the feel of the small but powerful grip digging into his gloved palm, Jason grinned under his helmet. He raised his gun.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Jason said. He fired. The shot rang out in the night. Jason lunged to get a hold of Red Robin as the Joker’s body fell, a shiny red hole through his head. Jason stood on the edge of the roof, his brother in his arms, and watched the dead body of the clown land at Batman’s feet. Batman looked down at it, like he didn’t know what he was seeing. Jason grinned cruelly under his helmet. He'd done it. Jason felt the rolling anger that had lived in his stomach since his dip in the pit finally settled a little, it's hunger partially sated.

The door to the roof banged open, and Phantom burst through, out of breath and covered in blood. Jason couldn’t see any green though, so he knew the blood wasn’t his own. 

“Joker?” Phantom asked, panting. Jason nodded to the ground. He adjusted his hold on Red Robin and walked past the meta to the stairwell. He saw Phantom looking over the roof as he entered the building. 

He walked quickly, but carefully so as not to aggravate his brother’s wounds. He hadn’t woken up yet with all the jostling which left Jason worried. Nightwing met him halfway down the stairs, but didn’t try to take Tim from him. Instead, the older man just followed Jason solemnly down the stairs. 

They met Batman and the girls at the bottom. Batman’s expression was hard as he looked at Jason, like he wanted to start yelling, but Jason thrust Tim into his arms. 

“You need to take care of your son,” he said firmly, and Batman took the teen’s broken body into his arms. He stood cradling him for a second, his expression sad, before he snapped back to business. 

“To the cave!” he ordered. “We need Dr. Thompkins.” 

“I’ll get her,” Jason said, and bolted for the door. He heard boots behind him and turned to see Phantom had rejoined him. 

Outside, the meta helped him to right his bike. Phantom didn’t look good, his skin was pale and Jason knew he’d over extended his powers again. He’d never seen him use that shield trick before. It must have taken a lot out of him. 

“Go home Phantom,” he ordered as he climbed onto his bike. “You’ve been a huge help, but we’ve got it from here.” Phantom didn’t argue, just nodded and limped off into the nearest shadows. Jason looked after him for a second, before speeding off. He heard the engines of the Batmobile rev as he sped around a corner for Dr. Thompkins apartment. 

…

“How is he?” Jason asked Dr. Thompkins as she came out of the medical room. He was sitting on the hood of the Batmobile in the cave. He’d already showered and changed out of his suit. Both he and it had been covered in Tim’s blood. The emergency clothes Alfred still kept for him fit very well, even if the crisp light blue jeans and short sleeve white button up shirt weren't his style. 

“He’ll live,” Dr. Thompkins told him as she leaned on the car next to him. They were alone in the cave. Batman and Alfred were still in the medical room watching over Tim and Dick had taken Damian and the girls upstairs to get some food and sleep. “He’s broken several ribs and he has a concussion. As long as his wounds don’t get infected, he should be in the clear to be on his feet in a month, and back to work in four,” she added. Jason hummed to let her know she’d been heard. Four months, the Joker had knocked him off his feet for that long. But now, the Joker was dead. No one had said it yet, but he _was_ dead. Jason had killed him. Jason had finally put an end to that monster. 

“It was the Joker,” Jason said, because he felt it needed to be said out loud. 

“I know,” Dr. Thompkins said solemnly. 

“I killed him,” Jason added. Dr. Thompkins stiffened for a moment before replying. 

“Good,” she said firmly, startling Jason. He hadn’t expected anyone to approve. 

“What?” he asked, shocked.

“Good,” she confirmed. “He needed to be put down, and we both know Batman wasn’t going to do it.” Alfred came out of the medical room then and walked over to them. 

“Thank you so much for your help Dr. Thompkins,” he said politely. “Would you like me to bring you home now?” She pushed off the car and stood. 

“Thank’s Alfred. And _you_ can call me Leslie,” she said as they walked together towards the elevator. Jason sighed and looked longingly at Red Hood’s bike. His suit was still being cleaned, so he wasn’t going to get to drive it home today. He was going to have to borrow one of Bruce’s vehicles. He slid off the hood of the car and onto the ground, heading for the elevator. 

…

Jason smelled smoke coming from the kitchen of the manor. He poked his head in to find Dick burning a grilled cheese sandwich. He came up behind his brother and lifted the pan off the stove. 

“Hey!” Dick complained. The acrobat was the same height as Jason, but much leaner. 

“Go sit your ass down,” Jason scolded as he threw the ruined sandwich in the trash. “Let me do it.” Dick grumbled but went to sit at the counter while Jason pulled out two fresh slices of bread. He buttered the outsides and layered cheese between. After turning down the heat of the burner he set the sandwich, butter side down, in the pan and enjoyed the happy sizzle. 

“You killed the Joker,” Dick said softly and Jason stiffened. 

“Yeah. So what?” he asked flatly, not turning around. 

“It’s just, I killed him once too,” Dick said solemnly. Jason whirled around to look at him. 

“You what?” Jason asked, breathless. 

“I killed the Joker,” Dick repeated, looking at Jason with sad eyes. “After you died, well, the Joker got out again after Batman locked him up. I was still so mad about your death, that I beat the Joker to death. They restarted his heart, but I still did it.” Dick stopped, like he wasn’t sure what else to say. 

“You killed the Joker, for me?” Jason whispered. He hadn’t known that, hadn’t known anyone had done the one thing he’d wanted Batman to do for him, the thing he wanted his father to do for him. And Dick had done it. He’d killed the Joker for Jason. Jason didn’t know what to say. He turned back to the grilled cheese to hide the tear in his eye from his brother. 

“Thank you,” Jason whispered. 

“You’re welcome,” Dick whispered back. 

The quiet moment was broken when Jason’s phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Danny. Jason also caught the time, 7am. Danny was probably wondering where he was. 

“Hey, sorry, something came up,” Jason started to explain to Danny. 

“Jason,” Danny rasped weakly and Jason stopped talking. Something was wrong. 

“Danny?” Jason asked, worry lasing his words and thoughts. “What’s wrong?” 

Danny chuckled, a horrible jagged noise, like it pained him. “I’ve got to tell you something,” Danny said and Jason’s heart dropped. “And I think you know what it is,” he added. 

“We work together, don’t we?” Jason asked. He heard Dick’s chair move as his brother got up to stand next to him, worry creasing his brow. 

“Yeah,” Danny laughed. “We work together.”

“Phantom?” Jason asked, and Danny coughed wetly. 

“Yeah Jay, it’s me,” he said. “Jay, I really need your help,” he said with desperation lacing his words. Jason's heart dropped further and he knew he needed to get to him right now.

  
  


…

Jason was out of the house in an instant, not even stopping to explain to Dick or let him catch up as he hurled himself into the nearest car in the manor garage and sped out the barley opened garage door. 

“Stay with me Danny,” Jason ordered through the phone that he’d shoved between his shoulder and ear. 

“Okay,” Danny said weakly. 

“Where are you?” Jason asked as he broke every speed law and nearly crashed into a tree down the forested road. 

“My apartment,” Danny said, he sounded like he was drifting away. 

“What happened?” Jason asked, but Danny didn’t answer right away. “Danny!” he yelled into the phone. 

“What?” his boyfriend asked sleepily. 

“What happened?” Jason repeated. 

“I got shot,” Danny said, slurring his words. Jason cursed under his breath. 

“How many times?” Jason asked, trying to keep his voice steady. 

“Huh?” Danny slurred. 

“How many times were you shot Danny?” he clarified. 

“Oh. Three, I think,” Danny said, his voice getting hard to hear like he was holding the phone away from his mouth. 

“I need you to put pressure on the wounds Danny,” Jason said, but Danny didn’t respond. “Danny?” he tried again, but still got no answer. 

“Shit,” Jason swore, disconnecting the call and shoving the phone into his pocket. He focused more intently on driving, hoping he'd get there in time. 

…

Danny’s door was unlocked as Jason burst in. He followed the trail of blood to the bathroom where Danny was sitting slumped against the tub, unconscious. He was wearing jeans, boots, and a blood soaked t-shirt, not what Jason was expecting. He’d figured Danny would still be in his Phantom gear. How’d he’d managed to change eluded Jason, unless he’d gotten shot as Danny and not Phantom. But none of that mattered now. 

Jason dropped to his knees next to his boyfriend and shook him. 

“Danny, I need you to wake up!” he yelled, but Danny only groaned, and didn’t rouse.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Jason swore. He lifted Danny’s bloody shirt and found a folded blood soaked towel pressed to his side. He lifted the corner of the makeshift bandage and blood oozed from the wound, so he pressed it back. Jason used both hands to put pressure on the wound and Danny gasped, his eyes fluttering open for a second. 

“Jay?” he slurred. 

“I’m here,” Jason confirmed, keeping pressure on the wound. “Don’t you dare leave me,” he ordered. 

“Sorry,” Danny mumbled as his eyes slid closed. Jason swore again and ran through his options. Dr. Thompkins would likely be asleep now, and even if she wasn’t, she was too worn out from fixing Tim to be of any help. The Bat’s were exhausted and too far away too, which only left…

“Siri, call 911,” Jason ordered, pulling his phone from his pocket and pressing it between his ear and shoulder so he could keep pressure on the wounds. The AI did as she was told.

“This is 911, what's your emergency?” a calm female voice asked. 

“My boyfriend has been shot,” Jason said, the words scrambling to get out of his throat. “Our address is 368 Barrow street, fourth floor apartment,” Jason finished in a rush. There was a second of silence that dragged on forever in Jason’s mind. Finally the woman's voice returned. 

“I’ve sent an ambulance to your location. I need you to stay on the line and tell me everything you can,” she encouraged. 

“He’s been shot multiple times in the abdomen,” Jason explained. “I’m keeping pressure on the wound but he’s bleeding a lot.”

“Good, just keep pressure on it,” the woman said. “The ambulance will be there in a few minutes. Is your boyfriend conscious?” 

“No,” Jason said and heard his voice break. 

“They're almost there,” the woman said, encouragingly. 

The next several minutes dragged long in the quiet that was interrupted only by Danny’s uneven breathing. 

“You better not die on me,” Jason muttered. “I swear to god if you die on me,” he was interrupted when he heard people enter the apartment. He hung up the call as the EMT’S came into the bathroom and moved him away from Danny. He let them, his mind and body going numb. He'd been shoved out into the living room, so he walked backwards, keeping his eyes on where Danny was, until he bumped into the back of the couch. His legs gave out and he sat on the floor with his back against the couch while people flooded the bathroom, trying to get his boyfriend stable enough to move. A woman with kind eyes knelt in front of him. 

“Are you okay son?” she asked. He didn’t understand her question. Why wouldn’t he be fine? Danny was the one who was hurt. Then he looked at himself and realized he was covered in Danny’s blood. That was the second time in 24 hours he’d been covered in the blood of someone he loved. 

“It’s not mine,” he told the EMT. She looked back at the mass of bodies in the bathroom. 

“What’s your name honey?” she asked, turning back to him. 

“Jason Peters,” he said.

“Are you coming with us?” she asked and he nodded dumbly. “Do you have someone you can call honey? Someone who can meet you at the hospital?” Jason reached for his phone and found not only his in his pocket, but two other objects. He pulled them out and found Danny’s phone and wallet, both streaked with blood. He must have grabbed them when they moved him away from Danny, but he couldn’t remember doing it. He stuck Danny’s things back in his pocket and unlocked his phone. 

His first instinct was to call Tim, but he couldn’t do that now. Tim was probably still unconscious. He called Barbara. She answered on the first ring. 

“Jason?” she asked, worry clear in her voice. 

“Yeah,” Jason said. 

“Oh thank god, we’ve been worried sick,” she explained. “Dick said you just ran from the manor. What’s going on?” Jason started to answer when the EMT lady from before helped him to his feet and he followed the stretcher with Danny down the stairs, the elevator was broken. 

“Danny got shot,” Jason said, belatedly answering her question. 

“Oh my god,” Barbara gasped. “Is he okay?”

“No,” Jason said numbly as they sat him in the ambulance where he would be out of the way. “We’re in an ambulance,” he said. 

“Where are they taking you?” Barbara asked gently. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.” 

“Where are we going?” Jason asked the driver. 

“Gotham General,” the driver told him as the vehicle took off. 

“Gotham General,” Jason repeated. 

“I’ll meet you there okay Jason?” she said. “I’ll meet you there,” she reaffirmed before she hung up.

Jason didn’t really register that she'd hung up, the only thing he could focus on was Danny.

…

Jason didn’t really remember the ride to the hospital, and instead found himself dumped outside a waiting room. He was about to go in when a male nurse stopped him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, gently. 

“It’s my boyfriend's blood,” Jason said, still numb. The nurses expression softened even more. 

“Well you can’t go in there like that,” he said, gesturing to the blood staining Jason’s arms, shirt, and jeans. “You’ll scare everyone. Come with me.” The nurse led Jason to a bathroom with a shower where he told him to strip and wash. Jason did, and when he was done, he found a pair of gray sweats and a light blue t-shirt with the hospital’s name on the front. His boots looked like they’d been wiped down, and a pair of white socks in a plastic wrapping were sitting on the counter. 

The nurse was waiting for him in the hall when he came out. 

“Sorry, your clothes were ruined,” he explained. “I had to throw them away. I saved your boots though.” 

“Thanks,” Jason said numbly. The nurse led him back to the waiting room where he abandoned him and Jason sat down and put his head in his hands. He was so tired, but he couldn’t sleep here. It wasn’t safe here. There were too many people, and Danny was hurt, and Jason didn’t know if he was going to be okay. 

He pulled Danny’s wallet out of his pocket and ignored the blood. Opening it he found a few hundred dollars in cash, probably the money Red Hood had been paying Phantom, a Game Stop membership card, and an ID. Jason looked at this carefully and saw it was a fake, and not a very good one. It said that Danny was 21, and that his last name was Davis. There was no way it would hold up to any scrutiny. It was barely good enough to get alcohol. Jason slid the ID back into the wallet, and searched for a real ID, but he didn’t find one. Finally he put the wallet back in his pocket. 

Jason didn’t know how long he sat there before someone touched his knee. He looked up and found Barbara smiling gently at him. He looked up higher and found Dick behind her, pushing her chair. 

“Are you okay Jason?” Barbara asked softly. 

“Yeah,” Jason said automatically. He coughed, his throat was dry. Barbara moved herself so she was on Jason’s left, he’d sat himself on the end of a row. Dick sat down on his right. Barbara took Jason’s hand in hers. 

“Is Danny alright?” she asked. 

“I don’t know,” he croaked. “They haven’t told me yet.” Jason paused before he added. “Danny is Phantom.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jason broke out coughing again, his throat was so dry. 

“Dick, go get him a bottle of water,” Barbara said over him, and Dick stood up and left. 

“Jason Peter?” a female nurse asked and Jason raised his head. 

“Over here!” Barbara said. The nurse came over and Jason started to stand up. 

“No that’s okay,” she said, gesturing for him to stay seated and took a seat across from him. “I just need to ask you some questions.” Jason nodded. “You came in with the boy with the gunshots to the abdomen, correct?” 

“Yeah,” Jason croaked. 

“How is he?” Barbara interrupted. 

“He’s in surgery,” the nurse said. “But we didn’t find any ID on him. Do you happen to have it with you?” Jason didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have Danny’s ID, and he didn’t even know his last name. Why didn’t he know his boyfriend's last name? What kind of a boyfriend didn’t know that kind of thing? He couldn’t give the fake ID to the nurse, she would realize it was fake and ask where the real one was and Jason didn’t know. 

“Uhh,” Jason spluttered, searching for a convincing lie. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Barbara cut in. “You see, Danny had his identity stolen recently and we’re in the process of getting it back. If you give me a little bit, I’ll get you some information.” Barbara pulled a laptop out of her bag and started doing something on it. 

“You’re his boyfriend?” the nurse asked Jason, and Jason nodded. “Can you tell me how old Danny is?”

“Nineteen,” Jason said, relieved to have an answer for something. The nurse nodded and wrote something down on her clipboard. 

“Do you know if he has any major heart surgeries?” the nurse asked. 

“What?” Jason asked, not sure where the question was coming from.

“Heart surgery,” the nurse repeated. “He has a scar on his chest that appears to be from a major surgery. Do you know if it was heart surgery?” Jason shook his head, dumbly. He’d never seen Danny shirtless. Danny didn’t want to be seen shirtless. 

“I haven’t,” Jason tried, and stopped. He didn’t know what to say. The nurse took this as an answer though and wrote something down. She turned to Barbara. 

“Do you have the documentation for me?” she asked. Barbara shook her head. 

“I’m sorry. It’s going to take a bit,” she apologized. Dick came back and sat down next to Jason. He handed him a water bottle that Jason opened and drank in several huge gulps. 

“What’s going on?” Dick asked. 

“I’ll come back in a little bit,” the nurse said sympathetically, as she stood and left, leaving the three of them in a tense silence.

…

Jason didn’t know how she did it, but Barbara managed to make a new identity for Danny in half an hour on her dinky little laptop hooked up to the hospital's shitty wifi. It passed the nurses careful scrutiny and they were left alone again. 

Jason felt numb and neither Barbara nor Dick tried to talk to him much, just asked if he was hungry, which he wasn’t, and if he was okay. He wasn’t sure he was okay, but he told them he was. He wasn’t the one they should be worried about anyway. 

They sat in the waiting room for a long time. Jason blankly watched the people go in and out, before he heard his name called again. A male nurse came over and said, “Danny is out of surgery now. He is expected to make a full recovery. He’s resting but you can go see him now.” 

Jason stood up too fast and swayed on his feet. The nurse steadied him. Then, he led Jason and the others out of the waiting room and down the hall to an elevator. Jason froze. He didn’t do well in small spaces. 

“Jay?” Dick asked from behind him and Jason took a step back. 

“Can I take the stairs?” he asked weakly. 

“We’re going to the 15th floor,” the nurse said, confused. 

“I’ll take the stairs,” Jason said, undeterred. 

“I’ll go with him,” Dick said. “You take the elevator,” he told Barbara. She looked at them worriedly, but nodded. Jason turned for the stairwell and started walking. Dick followed him. 

“So, not a fan of elevators?” Dick asked as they climbed. “You know they’re one of the safest forms of transport in the world,” he joked. 

“Not a fan of tight spaces,” Jason muttered. “Guess waking up in a coffin made me claustrophobic.”

“Oh,” Dick said flatly, and didn’t say anything for the rest of the climb. 

...

They found Barbara waiting for them at the top when they emerged from the stairwell out of breath. The nurse had left. 

“Danny is this way,” she said and guided them down the hall. She gestured Jason to a door and he opened it. Danny lay on the bed, tubes hooked up to him. A heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm. He looked pale, his eyes sunken. A bag of blood hung from an IV stand and slowly fed into the crook of his arm. 

Jason sat heavily in the chair next to the bed. He carefully wrapped his fingers around Danny’s limp hand. 

“I don’t know what I would have done if you died on me,” he said softly. 

“Jay,” Barbara said gently and he looked up at them. “Do you want us to stay?” He shook his head. 

“You guys can go. Thanks for everything, but you should sleep,” he told them, his mind finally clearing with the confirmation that Danny hadn’t died. They nodded at him and Barbara rolled over to him to press a kiss on his cheek. 

“We’ll be back in a few hours, okay? Try to get some sleep,” she said gently. He nodded. Dick came over to his side, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed, giving him any kind of comfort he could. After that they both left. 

Jason ran his thumb gently across the back of Danny’s hand. He couldn’t see the damage the bullets had caused under the thick bandages, blankets and hospital gown. He didn’t want to see it. All that mattered was that Danny wasn’t dead. 

Jason pressed his mouth to Danny’s ear and whispered, “I love you.” Even if Danny couldn’t hear him, he needed to say it. He’d say it again when he woke up, because it was true. It was truer than anything else Jason had ever felt. He loved Danny, and he wasn’t going to lose him, no matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun! Let me know what you think, I’ve had parts of this planned out since the beginning so I’d love to hear from you. Also this fic is officially over 100 pages in my document.


	9. The Truth Comes Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I’d like to thank my beta/editor for all the hard work she puts into the chapters. You can thank her for a lot of the cute couple moments in this chapter. And you may have noticed I changed my username. It's still me though!

Jason woke to someone saying his name. He opened his eyes, and found himself with his head pillowed on his arms resting on Danny’s hospital bed near his legs. Jason sat up, stretched, and found Dick looking at him. 

“What?” he asked without any anger. 

“It’s just,” Dick started, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth, “you make a really cute couple.” 

“Ugh,” Jason groaned. 

“What?” Dick asked, still smiling gently. 

“Don’t start your emotional bullshit right now,” Jason begged, and Dick snorted in laughter. 

“No promises,” he said.

Jason didn’t know what this was. He and Dick hadn’t had a civil conversation in years, since before he died, and even then their relationship had been overshadowed by Dick’s fight with Bruce. Jason by no means felt the raw anger for his brother anymore, hearing what Dick had done to the Joker had squashed that. And then Dick had come to his and Danny’s aid when Jason had felt himself falling apart. Jason didn’t know what to do. And now here Dick was, standing just inside the doorway to his boyfriends hospital room, a bundle of get well balloons in his arms. 

Dick crossed the room and set the balloons on the small table near the head of Danny’s bed. They nearly scrapped the ceiling. Dick sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the room from Jason and rested his chin on his fist. He looked at Danny with pity in his eyes, an emotion Jason didn’t think Danny would like. 

“So, he’s the one you’ve been running around Gotham with?” Dick asked and Jason knew what he was saying. He was asking about Phantom. 

“I guess,” Jason breathed out, sitting back in his chair. His stomach growled in the quiet room and he realized he hadn’t eaten anything in well over twenty four hours. Dick heard it too and smiled softly at him. 

“You hungry?” he asked. 

“No,” Jason lied and crossed his arms over his stomach to repress the gnawing hunger. 

“Come on,” Dick said, standing up and gesturing for Jason to do the same. Jason eye’d Danny, he really didn’t want to leave him. 

“He’ll be fine,” Dick assured, noting Jason’s attention. “I talked to the nurses on my way in, they said he’s unlikely to wake up for several more hours.” Jason mulled this over, but his stomach growled again and he groaned. Dick offered him a hand up and Jason took it, letting his brother haul him to his feet. Together, they walked through the halls of the massive hospital to the cafeteria. Dick led the way, taking the stairs without Jason having to ask. 

...

The cafeteria was massive, and Jason felt overwhelmed. It was dinner time, and the place was fairly full. There was a strange mix of somber and joy radiating from the room. There were people whose loved ones were dying, people who just learned that their family or friend was going to be fine, and fathers who were welcoming their child into the world. It was overwhelming. 

Despite sleeping the whole day, Jason was still tired, so he followed closely behind Dick as they navigated through the crowd and found their way to a buffet line. He looked at the food with some disgust. Despite his hunger, he felt if he ate any rich food right now he’d throw up. His stomach was still knotted with worry. So he got a salad and a yogurt parfait that he thought he could handle. Dick got mac and cheese because of course he did. 

They sat down on opposite sides of a table and Jason picked at his food. 

“So, you’re gay?” Dick said, opening the conversation. 

_ ‘What a Dick place to start,’ _ Jason thought to himself.

“Yeah, I’m gay,” he breathed out loud. 

“I’m glad you’ve found someone,” Dick said, wistfully. Jason looked up from his food and was surprised that Dick wasn’t eating. 

“Danny’s great,” Jason said, not sure what his brother wanted. 

“Damien has been telling me about your movie nights,” Dick broke the silence that had fallen over them. “It sounds like fun.” Jason looked closer at his brother. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept well, and he was fidgeting with his fork. The fact that he wasn’t eating his cheesy nightmare should have been enough for Jason to realize something was bothering him. And with the comment about Damien and their movie nights, Jason thought he knew what it was. 

“Just ask me Dick,” he said with a sigh. 

“Ask you what?” Dick said, pretending he didn’t understand. Jason just looked firmly at him and Dick sighed. He dropped his fork and intertwined his hands in his lap. 

“Jay, are you still mad at me?” he asked, looking at Jason from under his bangs. Jason let out a long breath before replying. 

“No Dick, I’m not mad,” he said. “But I don’t know where that leaves… us,” he finished flatly, gesturing to the space between himself and Dick. 

“What do you mean?” Dick asked, unsure. 

“I mean,” Jason searched for the words. “When I was a kid, I just wanted you to be my brother, and you were a shit brother.” Dick bowed his head, ashamed. 

“I’m sorry,” Dick said, meeting his eyes. “I know I was a ‘shit brother’ to you, and I hate myself for that. I was just so angry at Bruce, and I let that anger affect how I treated you.” He paused for a brief moment, then continued, “I’d always wanted a sibling, but I was in a bad place when you came along. That’s no excuse for how I treated you, I know that, but I just want you to understand that it wasn’t your fault Jay,” Dick picked up his fork and poked at the pasta growing cold on his plate. 

“Well, I can understand having a rough relationship with Bruce,” Jason said, not sure how to react to his brother's admission. Dick laughed humorlessly. 

“He loves you Jay,” Dick tried. 

“Well he has a really funny way of showing it,” Jason grumbled, shoving a spoon full of yogurt and berries in his mouth. 

“Oh don’t get me wrong,” Dick said, a smile teasing on his lips, “he could use about five years of therapy to get his shit in order, but he does care.” 

Jason pulled the spoon out of his mouth and sighed. He didn’t want to have this conversation right now. Dick took the hint and changed the subject. 

“Tim was asking about you before I left,” he offered. 

“Yeah? He’s awake?” Jason asked, grateful for the change of topic. 

“Yeah,” Dick laughed. “Awake and pitching a fit already. Damian won’t leave him alone. He’s worried about Tim, even if he won’t admit it.”

“I bet Tim loves that,” Jason said with sarcasm, knowing full well how those two barely got along most days. 

“He threw everything he could reach at him, and Damian still wouldn’t leave,” Dick admitted with a smile. Jason grinned at the image. 

“So Jay,” Dick started, “not to butt in but, once everyone is better, would you and Danny like to come to my place for a movie night? Damien and Tim are invited to.”

“No,” Jason said and Dick’s face fell before he added, “your apartment is disgusting. You can just come to my place for movie night.” Dick smiled broadly at him and ignored the insult to his subpar cleaning skills. 

“Really?” Dick asked and Jason nodded. “Thank’s Jay,” he said, warmth in his voice and a blinding smile. Jason just snorted at his brother's antics. They ate their food after that, talking about their brothers and Danny, and just enjoying each other's company for the first time in years. 

...

When they got back to Danny’s room a familiar and unwelcome figure was standing in the doorway, looking in. 

“Bruce,” Jason growled and Dick stiffened at his back. Bruce turned to look at them and Jason saw he looked like shit. The bags under his eyes were heavy, and he looked older than the last time Jason had seen him out of the cowl. His temples were starting to gray. 

“What are you doing here?” Jason ground out. He felt Dick put a hand on his shoulder, either for comfort or to keep him from attacking Bruce, Jason couldn’t tell. 

“I wanted to check on you two,” Bruce said, gently, meaning Jason and Danny. 

“Well, you checked on us. Mission accomplished, you can go home now,” Jason said pointedly. He shrugged off Dick’s hand and shoved past Bruce into Danny’s room. His boyfriend was still asleep and Jason pretending to be looking at his vitals, ignoring the two men at his back. The silence was tense and stretched until Dick said, “Bruce, can I have a word?” and led their ‘father’ several paces down the hall. 

Jason released an explosion of air from his lungs and sank into his chair. He wrapped his hands around Danny’s and tried to ignore the conversation in the hall. It wasn’t hard, there was lots of background noises to focus on, but he still caught his and Danny’s names a few times. 

Finally, Dick came back into the room and sat down across the bed from Jason. There was no sign of Bruce. 

“Did you tell him to fuck off?” Jason muttered. 

“I told him you aren’t ready to see him, and that he needs to stay away for now,” Dick said, his expression sour. Jason hoped he was frowning at Bruce and not him, and then startled when he realized he actually cared what Dick thought of him. He’d spent years convincing himself that he didn’t care what the first Robin thought of him, but it’d always been a lie. Jason had always deeply wanted Dicks approval. He wanted to know that he was a worthy successor, that he was a worthy brother. And now, he had a chance to have that, to have the older brother he’d wanted for years. It was more than he could think about right now. He turned his attention back to Danny. 

“Where did he come from?” Dick asked, also looking at the unconscious form on the bed before them. 

“I don’t really know,” Jason admitted. “We never really talked about our pasts in specifics.” Dick hummed in understanding. In their line of work, you couldn’t really talk about your past without cutting a lot of the details out. 

“And you didn’t know he was…” Dick left the name unsaid, but Jason understood. 

“No,” Jason breathed out. “I suspected, but it just didn’t line up,” he shrugged. Dick nodded. 

“Well, I’m sure it’s one heck of a story,” he said, curiosity blazing in his eyes, and Jason had to agree. He wanted to know how Danny and Phantom could be the same person just as much as his brother. 

  
  


…

A while after Dick had gone home to start the evening patrol, Jason was startled when a groggy voice asked, “Jay?”

Jason jumped and looked up from his phone where he’d been reading. Danny was awake and looking at him. Jason grinned broadly at him. 

“How are you feeling?” Jason asked, placing a hand on top of Danny’s. 

“Like shit,” Danny groaned. “Can I sit up?” he asked. Jason frowned at the controls on the arm of the bed that would have lifted Danny into a sitting position, and instead pushed the red button that would call a nurse. 

“Let’s ask first, okay?” he asked gently. 

“Fine,” Danny relented. He worked his mouth for a moment before adding, “I’m thirsty.” Jason was relieved; if Danny could complain, he knew he’d be fine. A nurse came in a moment later. 

“Oh, you’re awake,” she said cheerily. “How are you feeling honey?” 

“Terrible,” Danny said and Jason was surprised he left the swear words out. The nurse came over and looked at his chart. 

“Does your side hurt?” she asked, concerned. 

“Yeah,” he admitted. 

“What would you rate your pain on a scale of one to ten where one doesn’t hurt to ten being unbearable,” she asked. 

“Like a three I guess,” Danny said. The nurse frowned at him and gently placed a hand over where Danny’s wound was. He flinched, badly, and the nurse clucked. 

“There’s no need to act tough. We’ll up your painkillers,” she said. Then she went through several more questions and tests, before Danny asked if he could sit up. 

“You can, but not all the way,” she relented. 

Once the nurse left, they sat in an awkward silence for a while. Jason finally broke it. 

“You scared the shit out of me, you know,” he said. Danny chuckled. 

“Sorry,” Danny said. 

“How’d it even happen?” Jason asked softly. 

“During the fight,” Danny whispered back. 

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do when we get out of here,” Jason warned. 

“I will. I’ll tell you everything Jay,” Danny said somberly. 

“I love you,” Jason said, because he’d swore he’d say it when Danny woke up, and he was one to keep his promises. Danny looked at him and Jason could see the love in his eyes, so he wasn’t surpassed when Danny replied, “I love you too.” After the initial shock wore off they shared a tender kiss.

…

The next morning, after a fitful sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair, a sharp knock on the door frame drew Jason’s attention away from his phone. Danny looked up from his own phone, Jason had given it back to him. Two police officers stood in the doorway and Jason cursed to himself. It was standard procedure for cops to question anyone hospitalized with a bullet wound, and Jason should have known that. He should have also gotten with Danny and straightened out their story before they showed up. Jason was off his game. 

“Can I help you officers?” Jason asked, trying to keep the tension from his voice.

“We just have a few questions to ask Daniel,” the male one said, looking pointedly at Danny. “Who are you?” he asked Jason. 

“Jason Peters,” Jason explained. “I’m Danny’s boyfriend.” The officers looked at each other with a pointed expression that made Jason’s back stiffen. He knew they considered him a suspect. It wasn’t surprising, domestic violence was far too common in the Narrows. 

“Jason, can you come with me into the hall while my partner talks to Danny?” the female officer asked. “I’ve got a few questions for you as well.” 

Jason glanced at Danny who was casting him a pleading look, but Jason didn’t see a way out of this. 

“Sure,” Jason said, and followed her out into the hall. She closed the door behind them cutting him off from hearing the conversation in the room. 

“Now, Jason, can you tell me what happened?” she asked, a sternness in her eyes. Jason’s thoughts spun as he tried to figure out what Danny would tell the male officer. He hopped Danny would keep it as close to the truth as possible, so that’s the route he chose. 

“Danny called me while I was at my friends house,” Jason started, trying desperately not to lie.

“Can this friend confirm this?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Jason said, knowing that Dick would be happy to. “Do you need me to call him?” 

“That’s not necessary yet,” she said. “Go on.”

“So, Danny called me and said he needed help, so I rushed over,” he continued. 

“You didn’t call an ambulance first?” she asked, suspicious. 

“No,” Jason admitted, trying to sound regretful. It wasn’t hard, he knew he should have called 911 instead of rushing over himself. Danny could have died long before he got there, but with everything that had happened that night, he hadn’t been thinking clearly.

“I should have called 911,” he continued. “But I’d been up for hours, my friend's brother had just been in a car accident, so I was really not thinking straight,” he explained. A car accident was the usual cover story if one of the Bats got injured on the job, and Jason hoped that was what Bruce had told the media. 

“Alright, what else,” the officer promoted. 

“Well, I got to Danny’s apartment and he was unconscious, so I called 911, and they took us to the hospital,” he finished, holding his hands out, palms up. 

“You don’t know how Danny was shot?” she asked, like she didn’t believe him. 

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it,” he explained. “He only just woke up.” Both of those statements were technically true. Then, the door to Danny’s room opened, and the male officer came out. The two officers looked at each other and the male one nodded. 

“You can go back to your boyfriend now,” the female officer told Jason. “We’ll come back in a moment.” Jason slipped back into the room and they closed the door behind him. The officers would compare stories and if they didn’t line up… Jason didn’t want to think about that. He sat down in his chair and sighed. 

“What’d you tell them?” Danny whispered. 

“The truth,” Jason said, but made a so so gesture with his hand. Danny nodded and stared at the wall. Jason knew he was smart enough to realize the danger they were in. After several long moments, the officers came back into the room. 

“Well,” the male one breathed out. “We’ll see what we can do about finding the men who shot you Daniel, but I’m afraid without a clear description, the chances are slim,” he explained. Jason let out a breath. They’d managed to line their stories up somehow. The officers didn’t suspect him of shooting Danny. 

“I understand,” Danny said. The officers made their apologies and well wishes and left. 

“That was close,” Jason said. “What did you tell them?” 

“Just that I got mugged walking home from work, and when I wouldn’t give them my wallet they shot me, and that I don’t really remember anything after that,” he shrugged. 

“That’s good,” Jason said. 

“What’d you tell them?” Danny asked. 

“That I was sleep deprived and when you called me saying you were hurt I rushed over instead of calling 911 and that I didn’t know how you were shot,” he summarized. 

“I should have called 911 before I called you,” Danny admitted, shame settling on his face.

“It’s not your fault, you’d just been shot,” Jason comforted. He took Danny’s hand and squeezed. Danny squeezed back. Jason’s heart swooned at the knowledge that they were both going to be okay.

…

“How are you two doing?” Tim asked when Jason picked up his phone. He was in the process of driving his car back to the hospital to pick up Danny who had been discharged that afternoon. 

“Good,” Jason said as he navigated Gotham’s after work traffic. “Danny’s been discharged. I’m on my way to pick him up now. How are you doing? I hear Damian has been driving you nuts.” 

Tim groaned. “You have no idea. He won’t leave me alone, the little shit. I keep asking him what he thinks is going to happen, the Joker _ is _ dead after all,” he whined. Jason chuckled. 

“How did he answer?” Jason asked. 

“He didn’t! Just looked at me like I was stupid. I keep throwing my pillows at him, but he just keeps bringing them back!” Tim continued to whine. 

“I’d come over there and drag him away, but I’ve got Danny to take care of,” Jason said, a smile breaking out across his face at his younger brother's antics. 

“Speaking of, Dick said you confirmed he’s Phantom,” Tim changed the subject. Jason could hear the question in his words. 

“Yeah, he hasn’t had a chance to explain it yet though. Too many ears,” Jason said. 

“Well once he tells you, I want the story,” Tim said. “Oh shit, Dick’s coming. I got to go.” Tim hung up before Jason could say anything else. 

…

As Jason pushed Danny in a wheelchair through the hospital, he thought he saw a familiar female face out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked, she wasn’t there. 

“What’s wrong?” Danny asked, and Jason realized he’d stopped walking. Jason shook his head to clear it. 

“Nothing,” Jason lied and continued to make his way to the exit, but he could have sworn he’d saw Harley Quinn in a nurses uniform, smiling at him. 

…

Finally, Jason sat down next to Danny on his couch, a plate of delivery pizza in his lap. Danny was slowly eating his pepperoni slice and giving Jason nervous looks. Jason knew he was dreading the explanation he’d promised and didn’t push. But as the silence dragged on Jason’s desire to know pushed him to speak.

“So,” Jason said, cautiously. Danny sighed, putting down his pizza. 

“You want to know how I’m Phantom right?” Danny asked. 

“Yeah,” Jason admitted. “I can’t figure it out.”

“Well, I’ll have to go back a while to explain it all,” Danny said. 

“I’m all ears,” Jason said, also putting down his food and wrapping his arm around Danny. He pulled his boyfriend to his side. Danny took a deep breath and began. 

“My parents were ghost hunters, but ghosts are only what they  _ thought  _ they were hunting. They weren’t true ghosts, though they shared some similarities. You see, there is this flip side to our reality called the Ghost Zone. Our two realities can’t exist without each other, they hold each other together. And in the Ghost Zone there are these beings born of human souls mixed with the Ghost Zone’s ectoplasm. They can come to our world sometimes through tears in the walls between our two worlds. That’s what my parents were hunting that they thought were ghosts.” Danny paused to see what Jason’s reaction to this would be, but Jason just waved him on, waiting for the rest. Danny took another breath and continued. 

“When I was fourteen, they built this portal that was supposed to open a door to the Ghost Zone, but it didn’t work. So they just gave up and left it. One day, me and my friends Tucker and Sam were messing around with it. They dared me to go inside, and I did. My parents weren’t the best at design, and I guess they put the ON switch on the inside of the portal, and I bumped it. It turned on with me inside, and when I came out, I could turn into a ghost.”

“Turn into a ghost?” Jason asked curiously. 

“Yeah. I like, transformed. I got white hair, and green eyes, and I can use my powers. They used to be stronger, and I used to be able to use them a little bit in my human form, but something happened…” he drifted off, remembering. 

“It’s okay,” Jason said, hugging Danny closer to him. He wasn’t sure he fully understood what Danny was telling him, but he believed every word nonetheless. 

“Well, anyway. When I turned on the portal, ghosts started to come through. Me and my friends would fight them and send them back. We did that for years, till I was sixteen. I never told my parents what I was, I didn’t know how they would react. They hated ghosts, and I didn’t want them to hate me,” he said with a faraway look in his eyes. 

“But then, one day, there was an accident.” Danny choked up and Jason rubbed his back in comfort until he got himself under control enough to continue. 

“An experiment went wrong, and the lab in the basement exploded,” Danny said, tears streaming down his face. “Everyone was there, my parents, my sister, my friends, and me. They all died…… . but I didn’t,” Danny took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued.

“There was this group that we dealt with a few times before, the GIW. We called them the Guys In White, but that’s not what it actually stands for. They are a government division that deals with ghosts, and when the lab exploded, they were called in to clean it up. That’s when they found me,” Danny said, trailing off again. 

“Were you hurt?” Jason asked and Danny nodded. 

“My powers saved me from the brunt of the blast, but I was still hurt. The GIW had tried to capture me several times over the years, but I was always too strong for them, but this time, they got me. They… they experimented on me,” Danny said, the pain and horror clear in his voice. 

“For how long,” Jason asked gently. He was trying desperately to keep his anger hidden, but the pit was rolling in his stomach and in his vision. It was hungry for revenge. 

“Two years,” Danny said quietly, rubbing at his eyes and burying the side of his face more into Jason’s torso. “They found a way to destabilize my core, all ghosts have one. It’s where our powers come from, but I rely more heavily on mine because I’m only half ghost. But unfortunately they were able to destabilize it and unsync my two halves. In that state they were able to hurt only my ghost half.”

“That’s why Phantom has scars on his neck and a missing tooth and you don’t,” Jason said, understanding. 

“Yeah,” Danny said. “The scars are because they were trying to find a way to prevent me from using my most powerful ability. I call it a ghostly wail. It’s this really powerful sonic attack,” he explained. 

“How’d you get out?” Jason asked. Danny smiled humorously. 

“They didn’t keep my core destabilized properly, and they didn’t disable my ghostly wail completely. I managed to get out of the ecto-uranium restraints. Ecto-uranium is this mineral that corrodes ectoplasm which ghosts are made of. It hurts and weakens us. Anyway, I got out of them and used my wail to take out their entire compound. I barely got out with my life though. And my powers are still weak and unstable. I should be able to use them in my human form but I can’t. I still can’t fly like I used to, or turn invisible. And the damage to my ghost half hasn’t transferred to my human half like it should, so I know I'm still out of sync.” Danny folded his hands in his lap. 

Jason didn’t know how Danny could be so calm about this, but then he thought about how he talked about his own death and torment by the hands of the League. He joked about it; pretended like it didn’t matter. Danny was doing the same thing, keeping the trauma at arms length so it didn’t hurt so much. Jason did some mental math and realized Danny had been free from the GIW for a year. He didn’t know what Danny had been like when he first got out, but he’d managed to shove most of the trauma down and learn his triggers. Shoving everything down wasn’t healthy, but it was easier. Jason knew that.

Jason thought over everything Danny had told him. It explained a lot, hell it explained everything. Every question he had was answered. He understood what had happened to Danny, and his gut roiled. The GIW was the organization that neither Oracle nor Red Robin could hack into. They’d been on the right track. They’d been so close, but the fire wall had stopped them. And if they had been experimenting on Danny, it explained why they needed one so strong. They didn’t want anyone to know what they had been up to. And if they found out Danny was alive, and that he was in Gotham... Jason didn’t want to think about it, except to decide that he would kill every last one of them if they ever showed their faces in his city. With this convection in mind he pulled Danny carefully up onto his lap and held him close, kissing him tenderly. He felt Danny’s body relax into him. Jason vowed to never let anyone hurt  _ his  _ Danny ever again. And Jason just knew he would do anything to keep that promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Some of you actually guessed it or got really close. What do you think? I nerfed Danny for several reasons, both story and logistic so I’m curious what you think about it now that the reason is out. Please review.


	10. Now You See My Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to work a little differently. In order to keep the rating down for the sake of visibility, the smut is going to be placed in it’s own story that’s listed a sequel to this one called REDACTED. There will be a note in the story telling you when to read REDACTED. The smut in this chapter and all future chapters will be posted here. Thanks, sorry for the inconvenience.

“Danny, let me see your wound!” Jason yelled through the bathroom door.

“I’ve got it Jason!” Danny yelled back. Jason winced at the use of his full name, Danny hadn’t used it since they started dating, so he must be pissed. But Jason wasn’t going to let this drop. He didn’t trust Danny’s basic medskills to take care of it. 

“Come on, just let me look!” Jason held himself back from banging on the door. 

“No. It’s fine!” Danny called back. 

“Don’t make me come in there!” Jason yelled, getting ready to get a screwdriver to stick in the knob, bathroom doors were really easy to pick. 

“I’ll just phase through the floor!” Danny said. 

“You’re not supposed to be transforming! Dr. Thompkins said it was a bad idea till it’s healed!” Jason countered. Dr. Thompkins had visited them after Tim had spilled the beans to her about Danny being Phantom. They’d told her about the destabilized/unsynced thing and she’d declared that Danny shouldn’t use his powers in any way till the wound had healed. 

“I think I know my own limits better than her!” Danny said. Before Jason could fire back, Danny opened the door and glared at him, arms crossed. Jason tried to see the wound, but Danny had rebandaged it and put his shirt back on. It’d been three days and Danny absolutely refused to let Jason take care of it or even see it. He wouldn’t even accept help getting dressed despite the fact Jason knew it hurt for him to raise his right arm. 

“If I want your help, I’ll ask,” Danny said coldly. Jason felt his temper rise. 

“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Jason said through clenched teeth. 

“I’ve been taking care of my own injuries since I was fourteen, Jason. I don’t need help,” Danny said and tried to move past him, but Jason didn’t let him. 

“Jay,” Jason growled. 

“What?” Danny asked, his anger melting into confusion. 

“You usually call me Jay,” Jason said firmly. Danny’s expression changed back to anger. 

“Get out of my way,  _ Jay _ ,” Danny said with as much cruel emphasis on the name as he could. 

“Let me see your wound first,” Jason said slowly. 

“No means no,” Danny said. “So get the fuck out of my way, or I’ll punch you.” 

Jason narrowed his eyes, he wasn’t going to lose this fight. Danny glared back at him. Jason saw the punch aimed at his jaw a mile away. He reflexively caught Danny’s arm by the wrist before the blow made contact with his face. Jason realized his mistake a second too late. Danny’s eyes went wide, and Jason let go. 

“I’m sorry!” he blurted out as Danny shoved past him and ran for the front door. Jason went after him but the front door slammed in his face. He didn’t follow further. 

“God dammit!” Jason yelled and kicked the front door. He wasn’t wearing shoes so the blow hurt. He refused to hop on one foot like an imbecile so instead he sank to the floor with his back against the door and put his head in his hands. He’d screwed up, again. He knew that was one of Danny’s triggers. He should have known better.

He sat like that for a while, trying to control his breathing, and listening to Danny stomp around one floor down, ranting and raving to himself in a strange language. It sounded like esperonto. It wasn’t a language Jason knew all that well, but he could pick out a few words, and they were mostly swears, directed he knew at himself. 

Jason heard his phone chime, and on the off chance it was Danny, he dragged himself up and over to the coffee table where he’d left it. He looked at the message and sank down onto the couch. It wasn’t Danny, it was Dick checking in. 

Dick: How’s it? R U 2 good?

Jason groaned. He heard a smash downstairs as something broke. 

Jason: Yeah. We’re great. 

Dick: Good :) Can I come over? 

“Tiu bastardo bezonas suĉi dikon!” Danny yelled from below Jason’s feet. 

Jason: Maybe some other time. Danny’s sleeping.

Jason glared at his phone till Dick finally replied. 

Dick: Ok take pics! ^_^

“Troprotekta hara kaco!” Danny yelled. “Li probable havas kaceto!” 

“Hey! You leave my dick size out of this!” Jason yelled back through the floor. The swearing and stomping stopped. Jason heard Danny’s front door slam and footsteps on the stairs up to his apartment. Three loud knocks sounded on Jason’s front door. He vaulted over the couch to open the door. Danny stood there, arms crossed and glaring. 

“You speak esperanto?!” he demanded. 

“Nur iomete,” Jason replied, trying not to smile at the incredulous look on Danny’s face.

“Anusulo,” Danny mutter and Jason lost the fight with his will and smiled. 

“Where’d you learn esperanto?” Jason asked. Danny sighed and brushed past him into the apartment. He flopped down onto the couch. 

“I learned it from a ghost,” Danny explained as Jason joined him on the couch. He had to lift Danny’s legs up and set them on his lap to fit. “He could tear his own portals into our world and back into the ghost zone, and only spoke esperanto. So I learned it from him so we could understand what he was saying.” Danny paused before asking. “Where did you learn it?” 

Jason sighed. He hadn’t explained the whole, raised by Batman, used to be Robin thing. He guessed there was no time like the present.

“So, you know I’m Red Hood,” Jason started. 

“Yeah,” Danny said, fiddling with a bullet cartridge he’d picked up off the coffee table. 

“Well, before that I was Robin,” Jason waited for this to sink in. 

“I know,” Danny said startling Jason. 

“You know?” Jason said, with a confused face. 

“Yeah,” Danny confirmed, still staring at the ceiling and fiddling with the casing. “I’m not stupid Jay. Your name is Jason, your brothers names are Richard, Timothy, and Damian, and you were all adopted by a guy named Bruce. Fifty bucks his last name is Wayne. I’ve heard the rumors going around that Red Hood used to be a Robin, which means you’re the second Robin, Dick was the first, Tim the third, and Damian the fourth. That would make Bruce Wayne Batman. Am I missing something?” 

Jason had his head tipped back against the couch looking at the ceiling. He felt Danny shift as he sat up. 

“You got it in one,” Jason mumbled. He knew their identities were fragile, but damn. If you knew one you really knew them all. 

“The one thing I can’t figure out is why you’d fake your own death,” Danny said, like he was thinking out loud. 

“I didn’t,” Jason muttered. 

“Huh?” Danny asked. 

Jason straightened and looked Danny in the eyes. 

“I didn’t fake my death. I actually died,” Jason explained. Danny’s expression turned to shock. He looked Jason up and down like he was looking for injuries. 

“What?” he said, baffled. 

Jason sighed. “I actually died, the Joker killed me,” he explained. 

“The Joker,” Danny choked. 

Jason nodded. “I died and Bruce buried me. Then, six months later out of nowhere, I woke up in my coffin. Had to break out then dig myself out,” he explained. Danny’s look of shock didn’t leave his face. “I still had all the wounds I died with, so I was basically half dead. Then some real jerks found me and fixed me up. They dumped me in a lazarus pit and riled me up. Then sicced my crazy ass on Batman. Took years before the pit madness wore off.” Jason didn’t mention that it hadn’t fully worn off and he still felt it bubbling inside him sometimes. 

“So we’re both undead creeps,” Danny grinned at him and Jason burst out laughing. 

“Yeah, I guess we are,” he said, trying to get himself under control. “Now, from one undead creep to another, will you at least tell me why you won’t let me look at your wound?” Jason asked gently. He knew it was dangerous to bring this up again. It might set Danny off, but he wanted to know. Whatever it was, Jason knew he could handle it, and he wanted Danny to trust him enough to do so. Danny’s expression fell and he crossed his arms tightly over his chest, looking away from Jason. 

“I don’t want you to see,” he muttered. 

“See what?” Jason asked, even though he thought he knew. 

“I have a scar,” Danny muttered. 

“Danny, I have tons of scars, they don’t bother me,” Jason said. Danny shook his head. 

“Not like this,” Danny argued. Jason raised an eyebrow at him and started to take off his shirt. Danny turned to look back at him and raised a hand to stop him. 

“What’re you doing?” he asked. 

“Proving a point,” Jason said and took off his shirt. He watched Danny’s expression change from confusion, to horror, to understanding as he scanned every inch of Jason’s bare chest. The pit had washed away some of his lesser scars, but not all of them, and in the years he’d been back, he’d earned a lot more. But the one that was drawing Danny’s attention, was the Y shaped scar that marred his entire torso, his autopsy scar. 

Danny met Jason’s eyes, and Jason saw the acceptance and love there. Danny hesitated only for a moment, and then drew his own shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. Jason’s guess had been right. Danny bore the same scar, but crueler, like the wound had been reopened over and over. He bore other marks too, slashes and burns and ones that had been badly stitched together. Five years of battle and torture scars were raised across his chest, and they did nothing to diminish how beautiful he was. Jason also saw the bandage that covered Danny’s recent wounds. It was small, far smaller than Jason had expected. He could even see a few stitches poking out where the doctors had had to cut into Danny to get the bullets out. They were mostly healed. Jason realized Danny had accelerated healing, the little bastard. 

“We match,” Danny said softly, touching Jason’s scar. It was too much for Jason to take. He kissed Danny, more passionately than he had before. Danny leaned into him, wrapping his arms around his neck and Jason scooped him up. He stood with his small, adorable boyfriend in his arms and carried him to the bedroom. Jason dropped him roughly on the bed and Danny laughed as he bounced. It was a beautiful, musical sound and it drove the hunger in Jason wild. 

Jason climbed onto the bed with Danny, hovering over him, and kissed him again. Danny tangled his fingers in Jason’s hair. Jason teased at Danny’s lips with his tongue and Danny opened his mouth to let him in. Jason explored his boyfriend’s mouth, feeling and tasting every inch. He pulled away and kissed Danny’s neck. Danny ran his hands down Jason’s back, following the lines of scars. 

Jason kissed his way down Danny’s neck, biting and teasing as he went, till he came to his shoulder, and the top to the scar there. He met Danny’s eyes, searching for any sign he was pushing too far, but Danny just smiled at him with a deep blush on his face. 

“You’re beautiful,” Jason said, because it was true, and kissed the top of the scar. He moved his away down Danny’s chest, following the scar down, down down, but careful to avoid the bandage. When he reached the end of the scar at Danny’s navel, he looked up at his boyfriend's face. Danny was breathing heavily, and Jason smiled at him, all teeth and mischief. 

“May I?” he asked. 

Danny blushed deep red and squirmed under Jason’s intense gaze. He nodded jerkily. 

“I need to hear you say it,” Jason said, his voice sultry. 

“Please,” Danny moaned and Jason’s grinned widened. He was going to tease and please Danny and show him just how beautiful he was, scars and all. 

….

**REDACTED, go read REDACTED if you want smut.**

....

“Oh my god Dick, get your boots off my coffee table!” Jason yelled from the kitchen where he was kneading dough. 

“Sorry!” Dick called back and put his boots back on the floor. 

“Five people is too many for this apartment,” Jason groaned. Danny, who was sitting at the counter in front of him, laughed. 

“It’s kinda nice,” Danny said, looking over his shoulder to watch the antics. Tim was in a wheelchair with a laptop across his legs, how they’d gotten him up the stairs Jason didn’t know. Dick and Damian were having a heated conversation about school that looked like it was about to devolve into a physical fight. Someone banged on the door and Jason groaned. 

“I’ll get it,” Danny said and leapt off the stool. The stool wobbled for a few moments before it fell to the floor with a crash. 

“Opps,” Danny said, cringing and looking back over his shoulder. Someone knocked again and Danny finished his rush to the door. 

“Hello?” Danny said, unsure when he opened the door. 

“Who is it?” Jason called, he couldn’t see the other side of the door from his place in the kitchen. 

“Jason!” a familiar female darted passed Danny and across the small apartment. She collided with the counter and leaned over it, her feet lifting off the floor. Red hair swirled around her face. 

“Stephanie?!” Jason asked. “What are you doing here?” 

“Dick invited us,” she said cheerily, plopping down on a stool. 

“Us?” Jason asked, fear creeping into his voice. 

“Wow, there’s quite a crowd here,” Barbara said as she rolled into the apartment, Cassandra Cain following close behind. 

“Dick!” Jason yelled, accusingly. 

“What?” Dick asked, looking over at Jason and grinning his stupid face off. Jason wanted to demand why he invited the girls, but he didn’t want to seem like he didn’t want them here. It wasn’t that, but he would have liked to have  _ known _ they were coming. 

“I’m guessing Dicky didn’t tell you we were coming?” Stephanie said, smiling evilly at him. She’d clearly known their vist would be a surprise and just wanted to piss Jason off. 

Danny had closed the door and come back over to the counter. He righted his stool and sat next to Stephanie. 

“Um not to be rude, but who are you?” he asked, unsure. 

“Stephanie, or Batgirl if you prefer,” she smiled at him. 

“You’re Batgirl?” Danny asked, surprised. 

“Yup, and that’s Barbara,” she pointed. “You know her as Oracle. And that’s Cass, or Black Bat,” she explained. Cass had perched awkwardly on the recliner and Barbara had joined in the conversation Dick and Damian were having. Cass eyed Danny warily, like she hadn’t decided if he was an enemy or not yet. Danny noticed her looks and his back stiffened. 

“Cass isn’t going to hurt you unless she deems you a threat,” Stephanie said, though she was clearly enjoying how her partner unnerved him. 

“And how do I show her I’m not a threat?” Danny asked, turning his back to the room and looking at Jason. 

“Don’t attack anyone she loves,” Jason said, slapping his ball of dough on the counter and covering it with a towel to let it rise. 

“I hope you’ve made enough,” Stephanie said, eyeing the ball. 

“I didn’t know I was going to be feeding the whole goddamn city,” Jason growled through clenched teeth. 

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Danny said. 

…

It was not fine. They didn’t have enough pizza, or enough ice cream, so Dick went on a supply run and came back with three frozen pizzas and four tubs of ice creams of the weirdest flavors Jason had ever seen. By the time all the food had been devoured, feeding eight vigilantes was no small feat, Jason’s kitchen was a mess. 

“You all are a bunch of slobs!” Jason declared, standing in the wreck of his kitchen as the movie credits rolled. 

“Not our fault you’re a neat freak!” Stephanie called from where she was sprawled on the floor. 

“You shut your mouth!” Jason called back, but his tone was playful. Someone’s phone alarm went off and everyone groaned. 

“I’m too stuffed for patrol,” Dick groaned. 

“Get up,” Damian swatted at him and Dick covered his head with his arms. 

“You’re mean, Dami,” Dick whined. Damian kicked him in the shin and the man yelped. Dick pulled the boy down and the wrestling match began. 

“Well, who's going to carry me down the stairs?” Barbara said as she rolled away from the fight that was happening on the floor, a fight Stephanie joined when a stray foot got her in the knee. 

“Who carried you  _ up _ the stairs?” Jason asked, giving up on cleaning his kitchen before patrol. 

“Stephanie,” Barbara said. “But it looks like she’s busy.”

“I need help too,” Tim said from where he was pressed against the wall, blocked from escape by the flailing limbs on the floor. “Preferably before they knock me over.” Cass, who was about the same height as Tim, deftly stepped around the flailing bodies. She scooped him up out of his chair with ease and moved away from the danger zone. She set him on one of Jason’s dinner table chairs, before going back for his wheelchair. By the time Tim was safely in the wheelchair again, the fight by the couch had mostly stopped. 

“Look, everyone just get out of my apartment,” Jason said. “We need to get ready for patrol.” 

…

Jason wasn’t alone on patrol like he had been for a week. Dr. Thompkins had begrudgingly cleared Danny for work, he really did heal fast. Jason had finally gotten to see Danny transform. He was amazed at how his clothes changed and questioned Danny on how it worked, but the meta didn’t actually know.

“Hey,” Jason said. “I never asked why you wear a blindfold.” Danny looked at him for a second, as if deciding how to answer. 

“It’s just what I had,” Danny explained. “And my eyes glow green, even in the dark. So it helps me hide in the shadows better.” 

“You’ll have to show me that sometime,” Jason said, interested.

Danny’s only response was a smirk. 

Magic clothes besides, Jason was just glad to have Phantom back. It was a relief not to watch his own back anymore. Jason was surprised how much he’d come to rely on Phantom, and how much more difficult things were without a partner. He understood why Batman always kept his Robin’s close. 

With Phantom back, the night went smoothly, and they were casually walking the streets, doing one last sweep of the city before bed. 

“Are you still holding up?” Jason asked, looking at Phantom from under his helmet. 

“Yup,” Phantom said, popping the P. Jason had the thought that kissing Phantom might be interesting, especially with that missing tooth. But then he remembered how cold Phantom’s skin was and he dismissed the idea. He was so distracted by this thought, that he completely missed the giant hammer as it swung for his head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I try not to do cliffhangers too often, but I couldn’t resist. Let me know what you thought. Here’s what Danny and Jason said in esperanto.
> 
> Danny, “That bastard needs to suck a dick.” “Over protective hairy dick. He probably has a small dick!.”
> 
> Jason, “Just a little bit.”
> 
> Danny again, “Asshole.”


	11. Things Go Boom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extra wait. You get an extra long chapter for your trouble! 

Jason’s ears were ringing and he tasted blood. He noticed his visor was broken, the jagged edge looking like teeth. The screen on the inside was flashing and blinking sadly, unable to operate anymore. 

Jason’s head cleared a little and he found himself on the ground. He tried to shake off the haze from being hit with Harley’s hammer and started to stand up. But before he could manage to really get his feet under him, the hammer slammed into his ribs and he fell back to the ground. He curled in on himself and tried desperately to clear his head. He heard Phantom scream in pain. 

Jason forced himself to roll over. He saw Phantom on his back in the road, smoke curling off him, what had Harley hit him with?   
  


“Well what’d ya know?” she cooed. “This new toy really does beat ghosts. This is for Mista J!” she cackled and fired a strange gun. A green beam of light hit Phantom and he screamed and writhed on the ground. 

“No!” Jason ground out. He forced himself up onto his knees and yanked a gun out of it’s holster. He tried to aim it at Harley, but his hands shook. Harley noticed him and gave him a shit eating grin. 

“Get em boys,” she ordered as she hefted her hammer over her shoulder. Joker goons stepped out of the shadows, and Jason tried to force his body to move. 

He got himself to his feet as the goons came even with him. Jason punched one square in the nose, sending him stumbling back, but Harley took his place in a heartbeat. Jason threw up his arms to protect his head as her hammer connected. He screamed as the bones in his left arm broke. He stumbled back, right into the grip of another Joker goon. Hands clamped down on his upper arms as the goons closed in. Jason yelled out in defiance and stomped on the foot of the one holding him, but was stopped from further fighting back as they all started whaling on him. Fists connected with his shoulders and gut, and he gasped for air. A boot connected with his shin and Jason’s leg gave out. The goon holding him let him drop. 

Jason felt hands trying to remove his helmet and he fought back, but more hands grabbed his arms and legs and held him down. His head hurt, he couldn’t focus, he couldn’t fight back properly. The broken glass inside the helmet cut Jason as the whole thing was yanked off his head. He blinked stars and blood out of his eyes and saw Harley standing over him, still grinning like a maniac. 

“I’ll kill you for killing my puddin!” she declared and swung her hammer down, right into Jason’s chest. Jason screamed in agony as his ribs cracked. He thrashed, coughing up blood, and tried to get out of the hold that the Joker goons had on his arms and legs, but there were too many of them. The hammer swung again and no noise came out of Jason’s open mouth as his ribs broke. 

“Get off him!” Phantom yelled. Jason managed to tilt his head to look at the meta who was standing on shaky feet. 

“Oh, you want more ghosty?” Harley asked and raised her gun again. This time, the green beam fizzled out as it met Phantom’s shield. Harley looked confused and shook the gun, like that would fix the problem. The Joker goons let go of Jason to face the bigger threat. 

“Hood, cover your ears!” Phantom yelled. Jason did as he was told, clamping his hands down tight over his ears and curling into as much of a ball as his broken ribs would allow, despite the burning agony this provoked. 

Phantom took a deep breath, then opened his mouth. A noise unlike anything Jason had experienced filled the air. Even with his ears covered, Jason flinched away from the sound. It was more than a sound, it was a force. The Joker goons were literally blown away, and Harley dropped to her knees, also having covered her ears when Phantom had warned Jason. 

Jason expected the noise to keep going, but it was cut off suddenly by a horrible gurgle. Phantom had dropped to his hands and knees, and Jason was horrified to see the blue ring appear around his middle, but before he could transform back to human, the ring disappeared, as if Phantom had held it off. But blood was pouring out of Phantom’s mouth, blood and that green slime; ectoplasm Jason remembered numbly.

“Well, that wasn’t as impressive as I expected,” Harley laughed, getting back to her feet. “Looks like the little ghosty got a booboo. Let’s see you block this now.” She raised that strange gun again, and Jason could see the fear in Phantom’s expression as he choked on his own blood. 

“No,” Jason groaned, before a boot pressed into the side of his head, holding him down, one of the Joker goons. 

Harley fired, and Phantom ended up on his back. She fired again, and a horrible gurgling was all the noise Phantom made as his back arched up off the ground. Jason swore and cursed them all. How could this have happened? How’d Harley get the drop on them? And where the hell had she gotten a gun that could do that to Phatom? It looked exactly like his own plasma beams. Jason used his good arm to try to tug the boot off his head, but he didn’t have the strength. Harley walked over to Phantom, and looked about to smash his head in with her hammer, when the sound of an approaching engine filled the night. 

“Damn,” Harley swore, looking toward the sound. “Let’s scram boys!” she called to the Joker goons, and the boot lifted from Jason’s head. He ignored the approaching vehicle, and tried to crawl over to Phantom. His left arm was broken, and so were most of his ribs. His face was covered in bleeding scratches, but he somehow managed to drag himself over to Phantom and get the meta to roll onto his side, where he spat out the blood and ectoplasm he was choking on. 

“Not again,” Jason groaned. “Don’t do this to me again,” he begged.

“Hood!” a familiar voice called. Nightwing was at Jason’s side, a hand pressed to his shoulder, pulling him away and into a sitting position. Nightwing looked him up and down. Jason’s vision swam as he swayed. 

“Shit,” Nightwing swore. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked, holding up what looked like four. 

“Four,” Jason slurred. 

“Shit,” Nightwing repeated. 

“Phantom’s choking on his own blood,” a female voice said, and Jason had to rack his brain to come up with the name Batgirl, when had she gotten here?

“We need to get them to the cave,” Nightwing ordered. Jason swayed some more, despite the fact that he was sitting, and closed his eyes. Nigthwing shook him.

“Don’t you fall asleep on me Hood,” he ordered. “You have a serious concussion.” 

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Jason slurred. “You need to help Phantom,” he added.

“We need something more than a couple of bikes to move them,” Batgirl said and Jason turned his head to look at her. She was holding Phantom up where he was crouched on his hands and knees, coughing up blood and glowing slime into the street. He was panting desperately trying to get enough air past the blood. “Phantom is losing too much blood,” she added. 

Jason didn’t know what happened after that. Despite Nightwing’s warning, he let the darkness overtake him and slipped into unconsciousness. 

…

Jason recognized the ceiling, and he wasn’t happy about it. It was the beautiful wood paneled ceiling of his room, his old room, at the manor. 

“Fuck,” he swore, his voice coming out dry and strained. 

“You're awake?” a voice to his right asked. Jason forced his sore neck to turn and found Tim looking at him from his wheelchair, a computer perched on his lap. Behind him, in a second medical bed lay Danny. Tubs were coming out of his throat, and Jason cringed. 

“Is he?” Jason tried, his voice breaking on the question. Thankfully, Tim understood. 

“Danny’s fine,” he said, easing the tension in Jason’s heart. “You two have only been here for twenty four hours. We don’t understand exactly what happened, but he tore some old scar tissue in his throat. Dr. Thompkins was able to stop the bleeding and his body has already started the healing process,” Tim finished. 

“He heals fast,” Jason confirmed. 

“How are  _ you _ feeling?” Tim asked pointedly. 

“Like crap,” Jason admitted. Tim nodded sagely. 

“I’d expect so. You broke both your left ulna and radius in several places. And just about every one of your ribs were either broken or cracked. What happened?” Tim asked, real concern in his voice. 

“Harley,” Jason said by way of explanation. Tim looked surprised. 

“That’s what Oracle said, but how’d she get the jump on you?” Tim asked. 

“That’s what I want to know,” Jason admitted. “She used this energy gun on Phantom. Looked a lot like his plasma blasts. I want to know where she got it.” 

“Do you think it has the same energy signature as Phantom’s?” Tim asked. 

“Did you get my helmet?” Jason asked back. 

“Yeah, but it’s smashed up pretty good,” Tim said, shaking his head sadly. “Why?”

“Go get it,” Jason said. “It might have still been able to pick up the energy signature of the gun.” 

“That’d be helpful,” Tim agreed, and pulled out his phone. He shot off a text. A moment later, his phone chimed, whoever he’d messaged texting him back. 

“Damian is on his way with it,” Tim said. “And I was supposed to message Dr. Thompkins when you woke up.”

“You were also supposed to summon me Master Tim,” Alfred said in the doorway.

“Hey Alfi,” Jason greeted warmly. 

“Good evening Master Jason,” Alfred smiled at him. 

“Hey, Drake, I brought the,” Damian stopped short when he saw Alfred and tried to hide the shattered helmet behind his back. Alfred noticed it anyway and gave the boy a disapproving look. 

“Master Damian, Master Tim,” he addressed the teens, “Master Jason needs to rest and is not fit for work. I suggest you take this project elsewhere.” They didn’t try to argue. Damian dumped the helmet in Tim’s lap and wheeled him out, much to the older teen’s annoyance. Once they were gone, Alfred turned back to Jason. 

“They won’t be able to do anything with that helmet without me you know,” Jason commented. 

“I am aware,” Alfred confirmed. He started to fiddle with Jason’s IV. 

“Alfred,” Jason warned. 

“I’m sorry Master Jason, but you need rest.” He plunged a syringe into the IV port and Jason immediately felt sleepy. 

“You don’t play fair,” Jason whined. 

“Good night Master Jason,” Alfred said as Jason slipped back into unconsciousness.

... 

When he woke again, it was to voices arguing out in the hall. 

“I don’t care if you think you're his father,” Danny yelled, his voice muffled through the door. Jason looked over to Danny’s bed and found it empty. No one besides himself was in the room. “He doesn’t want you standing over him while he sleeps,” Danny continued. 

“I am his father,” Bruce argued back, voice low. 

“You’re a really shitty one,” Danny scoffed. “Besides, whether or not you are his father doesn’t change the fact that it would piss Jason off having you near when he’s hurt. He didn’t want you around when I was in the hospital, he wouldn’t want you around now.”

“It’s my house,” Bruce tried to argue, but Danny cut him off. 

“It’s a goddamn mansion, it’s big enough that you don’t need to be around right now!” he argued back.

Jason didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, and instead slipped back into sleep. 

…

When Jason woke again, his head was clearer. It was night, and all the lights were off. He first turned to see if Danny was there, and sighed deeply when he saw the messy head of black hair sticking out from under the blanket. Something settled in his chest at the sight. Then he scanned the room and froze when he saw Bruce sitting in a chair on his other side. 

“Jason,” Bruce greeted, and Jason hissed as he tried to sit up. He wasn’t going to face his ‘father’ lying down. “You shouldn’t,” Bruce said, getting up and walking to him. He placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder to keep him down. 

“Get the fuck off me,” Jason growled queitly, trying not to wake Danny. Bruce pulled his hand away and watched with a frown as Jason forced himself to sit up. His ribs groaned and burned with the motion, and he had to keep off his broken arm, but somehow, he managed. “What do you want?” he growled at Bruce. 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Bruce said. “I saw the footage of what happened. Tim was able to hack into your helmet,” he explained. 

“That stupid little genius,” Jason groaned with an eye roll. 

“You should have seen the attack coming,” Bruce continued. “You were distracted,” he looked over at Danny as if to explain what this ‘distraction’ had been. Jason followed his gaze. Danny’s breathing rose and fell with sleep. He didn’t look like he was hooked up to anymore tubes or IVs, so he must be healing very fast this time around. Not that he healed slowly before, but the speed that he healed seemed to vary. Probably a side effect of what the GIW had done to him. 

“You stay away from him,” Jason growled at Bruce, drawing his attention away from Danny. 

“He didn’t want to let me see you,” Bruce accused. 

“Good,” Jason said firmly. “He knows I don’t like you.” Bruce narrowed his eyes at him. 

“I’m your father,” Bruce tried. 

“Just because you were my father, doesn’t mean you have a right to butt into my life!” Jason hissed at him, his voice rising. “A real father would want to get to know his son's boyfriend, not try to undermine him at every goddamn opportunity.” 

“All records of his history have been erased,” Bruce said, ignoring Jason. 

“Of course you’ve tried to look him up,” Jason sighed. 

“I had to,” Bruce said, a growl finally entering his voice. “You wouldn’t have.” 

“Of course I have!” Jason’s voice rose louder again. “I’m not a complete moron. Of course I tried to figure out where he came from. I wasn’t going to let a complete unknown into my life!” 

“Hey,” Danny said, and they both froze. Jason looked at him, worried he’d heard what he said, but Danny was glaring at Bruce, who was holding the stare. “Are you okay Jason?” he asked without breaking eye contact with Bruce. 

“Yeah,” Jason breathed, letting all the tension flow out of him. 

“I thought I told you to leave Jason alone,” Danny said, getting up out of the bed and going over next to Jason standing with his arms crossed. 

“I have every right to be here,” Bruce growled, still not breaking eye contact with Danny . 

“Not if Jason doesn’t want you here,” Danny said. “Do you?” he asked, looking at Jason finally. 

“No,” Jason said, and Bruce looked at him, hurt in his eyes, but Jason didn’t care. Bruce stood there for a minute more than abruptly left, closing the door a little too hard behind him. 

…

“Get me out of here,” Jason begged Danny a few days later. He was sick of all the mother henning. All three of his brothers, along with Stephanie and Cass, had been around to see him and he had not had a second of peace. He needed his alone time dammit! He wasn’t a social butterfly like Dick was. The only person he could even stand to be around for long periods of time was Danny. 

He was even more sick of Bruce’s continued attempts to talk about Danny’s ‘untrustworthiness’. According to Bruce, Danny’s protectiveness of Jason was his attempt to get him and his brothers to distrust Batman, not like Batman wasn’t doing a perfectly good job of that on his own. It annoyed Jason that Batman was allowed to bring new people into the family, but the one person he tried it with needed to be treated with suspicion and cast out. It made Jason sick. 

“Are you sure?” Danny asked. “Alfred knows more than I do about taking care of your injuries.” 

“Yes, I’m sure,” Jason said, from where he sat in a wheelchair at the small table in the kitchen. He hadn’t been cleared to walk yet, despite the fact his legs were perfectly fine. 

“Alfred?” Danny asked, looking to the butler as he made breakfast. 

“I would advise against it,” Alfred said. 

“Alfie, I love you,” Jason began. “But if I don’t get out of this house I am going to kill someone,” he said firmly. Alfred looked him up and down. 

“Very well,” Alfred finally agreed. 

  
Jason smiled triumphantly at his win. So ready to leave this place and get back to his and Danny’s apartment. 

…

The next few days passed in relative peace. Jason had to admit, Phantom was doing a good job of keeping the Narrows and Crime alley under control. They’d spread a rumor that Red Hood had joined Red Robin on a mission out of town to cover up both of their injuries, but Phantom was more than enough to keep it under control. He was, however, going out earlier and staying out late because one vigilante didn’t hold nearly as much power over the criminals of Gotham as two did. But the work was getting done, and Phantom did it well. 

Jason did his best to keep busy while he was stuck at home. He cooked, as much as he could with one arm, and he scanned the deep web for any signs of criminal activity in his city. It was the kind of work he normally hated, but he was so bored he had to do something. 

...

One night, after Danny had come home, they were sitting on the couch eating Jason’s poor attempt at soup, the potato chunks were all uneven, and watching a movie, when Jason noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see the roof of the neighboring building through his window, and the person standing there. Harley grinned at him, and pressed a button on the remote in her hand. Without waiting to think, Jason wrapped his arms around Danny, and hauled him off the couch and into a run, ignoring the pain in his still healing arm. Danny didn’t question it, even though he hadn’t seen Harley. Together, Jason threw them through the window in a rain of glass. Danny twisted in Jason’s arms and grabbed onto his belt. A flash of blue light blinded Jason as Danny transformed just in time to slow their fall into the alley. 

They still hit the ground hard, and Jason grunted in pain as something sharp stabbed his leg. The boom that followed a second later was deafening. The heat and noise shocked Jason’s senses and left his ears ringing. 

When the initial explosion died down enough for Jason to take in his surroundings, he found Phantom standing over him, a green shield raised. Phantom looked down at where Jason lay awkwardly in the alley and raised an eyebrow. 

“You good?” Phantom asked. 

“Yeah,” Jason lied. His leg hurt, and he wasn’t eager to find out what had happened to it. “Go check for survivors!” he ordered. They looked at what remained of the building. The top two stories had been targeted and were completely gone, but the rest of the building wasn’t much better. Fires were quickly spreading to the lower floors, and parts of the walls and floors had fallen in. If the rest of their neighbors were home, their chances weren’t good. 

“Get out of here then,” Phantom dropped his shield and a few small pieces of debris fell to the ground. He ran to the building and phased through the wall to hunt out survivors. 

Jason used a dumpster to pull himself to his feet, his right leg didn’t want to support his weight. He looked down and found huge chunks of glass sticking out of this calf, he’d landed on a broken bottle. 

“Shit,” he swore, and tried to use the wall of the unmolested building to walk out of the alley; he was starting to regret not having Phantom carry him. 

Sirens wailed in the distance and a woman ran past the alley before turning back and looking at him. 

“Jason?” Dr. Thompkins asked, surprised. 

“Hey doc,” he groaned. She rushed into the alley, past small fires and piles of debris. Dr. Thompkins caught his good arm and slung it over her shoulder. 

“Where’s Danny?” she hissed in his ear as she hauled his sorry ass out of the dangerous place. 

“Helping,” Jason hissed back, but not from a desire to be quiet. Dr. Thompkins dragged him out of the alley and into a crowd of onlookers. A fire truck and an ambulance pulled up. The police appeared and drove the crowd back. Phantom walked out of the building with their elderly neighbor from the first floor apartment slung over his shoulder. He handed the unconscious man off to the EMTs. 

“There isn’t anyone else in the building,” Phantom told the police as he coughed up smoke.

“Good, go get some oxygen,” the officer ordered him pointing to the fire truck. Phantom nodded and made his way over, trying to stay out of the way of the men getting the hoses ready to douse the building. One man saw him covered in soot and coughing, and led him to the back of the truck to give him some oxygen and check his lungs. 

Dr. Thompkins, rather than take Jason over to the ambulance where the EMTs were working on the old man, led him to her car a little ways away. 

“In the back,” she ordered. “Lay on your stomach.” 

Jason didn’t argue. He didn’t really want to deal with a hospital today either, and as long as the glass stayed in he wasn’t going to bleed out immediately. The drive to the clinic was short, Jason didn’t live that far from it. Thompkins helped him out of the car and supported him into the building and into the surgery room. 

“On the table,” she ordered. “I’m going to have to cut your pants off.”

“But I like these pants,” he tried to joke, but she just scowled at him. 

“Someone just blew up your apartment,” she deadpanned. “Now is not the time for jokes.”

“It was Harley Quinn,” Jason said as he scrambled up onto the surgery table, careful of his still healing ribs.

“She’s still after you huh,” Dr. Thompkins said; it wasn’t a question. 

“Yup,” Jason answered anyway as he settled himself. Dr. Thompkins washed her hands and put on gloves, then she came over to Jason and cut the leg of his pants off. She gave him no warning as she stuck him repeatedly, injecting a pain killer around the glass. Jason hissed at the pain. 

“Don’t be a baby,” she scolded. 

“Sorry, but that fucking hurt,” Jason hissed. 

“Can you feel this?” Dr. Thompkins asked as she presumably poked Jason’s wound. 

“No,” he confirmed.

“Good,” she said as she got to work. 

  
  


…

Dr. Thompkins removed the glass and stitched him up. He’d been lucky that the glass hadn’t hit anything vital. As she was cleaning the sealed wound one last time, Phantom burst through the door, out of breath. 

“I… found you,” he panted, hunched over with his hands on his knees. 

“Sorry, couldn’t call you,” Jason said as Thompkins wrapped up the wound. 

“Yeah, my phone blew up too,” Phantom admitted as he transformed back into Danny straightening back up. 

Danny sank into a chair against the wall, and sighed. 

“Stay off that leg, Jason,” Thompkins ordered as she helped him off the table and handed him a crutch. Just one crutch, he wouldn’t be able to use the second one with his busted left arm. Good thing he’d gotten glass in his right leg. 

“Where do we go now?” Danny asked quietly. Jason thought about it for a second, before deciding. 

“I’ve got a house in the suburbs we can use,” he said. “It’s only a few minutes from the Narrows. 

“You’ve got a house?” Danny looked at him, incredulously. 

“Yeah, so?” Jason asked, feeling a little defensive. 

“Like, with a yard and everything?” Danny asked, a crazy looking grin creeping over his face 

“Yes, and?” Jason asked, not understanding where this was going. Danny burst out in uncontrollable laughter. He kicked his feet and between pants for breath said, “I just c..can’t image the Red Hood, in a house! With a yard!” Jason crossed his arms. 

“Why do you think I lived in an apartment?” he asked, annoyed. 

Danny finally got his laughter under control wiping away at a tear. “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “It’s been a weird day.” 

Jason snorted. “That’s an understatement.” 

They both laughed a little at the absurdity of it all. When they were done with their fit they just stared at each other, drinking in the fact that they were both, mostly, alright.

…

“When’s the last time you’ve been here?” Danny moaned, standing in the living room of the two bedroom house. Jason leaned on his crutch, and eyed the dust on everything. He bought this house ages ago to use as a sort of getaway from work, but hadn't ended up using it. So it’d been standing empty, gathering dust. He’d started to decorate it, and there were a few pieces of furniture. A leather couch and recliner stood under plastic sheets in the living room facing an empty TV stand. The ‘dining room’ had instead begun the conversion into a workout room and a lone weight bench stood on the hardwood floor. The kitchen was halfway through a renovation he’d started. Half the cabinets were on the floor in pieces where he’d been stripping off the ugly yellow paint and staining them a warm walnut color. 

Upstairs, one bedroom was mostly finished, a large bed was pushed into the corner, the pillows and blankets covered in another plastic sheet. A dresser stood against one wall and a TV was mounted on another, cords dangling uselessly. The other bedroom was in the middle of being painted. An old paint roller was permanently stuck in a pan of dried paint, and plastic covered the carpet. The full bathroom upstairs was thankfully intact, Jason had remodeled that first and it was brand new, if a little dusty. 

“Well, there's a lot of work to do,” Danny said, looking into the unfinished bedroom, Jason standing behind him. 

“Yeah, it’ll be a bitch,” Jason groaned. 

“Dick and Damian would probably help,” Danny mused, mostly to himself. Jason was going to complain that he didn’t want or need their help, but he looked down at himself. With his fucked up leg, broken arm, and busted ribs, he wasn’t going to be much use. 

“Yeah,” he sighed. “We should probably call them.” 

“Yeah but not now. I’m beat. Let's go to bed” Danny said this with a yawn. He yanked the plastic off the bed in the mostly finished bedroom and sniffed the blankets checking for mold. Once he seemed satisfied it was clean, he flopped onto the bed with a sigh, kicking off his shoes in the process. Jason awkwardly climbed in next to him and removed his shoes more carefully then Danny did. He leaned his crutch against the wall where he’d be able to reach it easily from the bed. Then, he settled himself down and Danny curled up against his chest, wrapping the blankets around them. Together, they drifted off to sleep. 

…

The next few days were chaos, and Jason hated it. Dick, Damian, and Danny worked to get the house livable, while Jason sat around giving instructions and Tim sat at the small table in the kitchen and ignored them all in favor of his laptop. 

“No, not like that!” he yelled at Dick. “You’re going to break the cabinets like that! Danny, that TV mount is crooked. Damian! You better not be spilling paint on my carpet!” 

“Jason, why don’t you take Tim and go shopping for house stuff,” Dick suggested.

“House stuff?” Jason cocked his head at his brother. 

“Yeah, like, towels, and pots and pans, and curtains, that stuff,” Dick tried. 

“You want to send the kid in the wheelchair, and the guy with half his bones broken on a shopping trip?” Jason glared at him. 

“Yes?” Dick squeaked. 

“Jay, you’re just driving yourself up the wall staying here,” Danny said, coming into the kitchen. Jason’s heart stutterd as he saw him, with light gray paint smeared on his face. It looked like Damian had thrown a paintbrush at him. 

“I’m good here,” Jason grumbled. 

“Please,” Danny tried. 

“Oh fine,” Jason mumbled, unable to resist the puppy eyes Danny gave him. He hauled himself up on his crutch and pulled Tim away from the table. Tim yelped as he was wheeled away from his laptop. 

“I did not agree to a shopping trip!” he whined as Jason awkwardly wheeled him outside to his car. 

Jason was worried about getting the kid into the car, but it turned out to be a non issue. Tim was almost out of the wheel chair anyway and could haul himself into the passenger seat just fine. Jason awkwardly folded his wheelchair and tossed it in the back seat before getting in himself. He was glad he drove an automatic, no way he’d be able to work the gear shift and the wheel with one arm. 

…

“So,” Tim said slowly, drawing out the sound. “How are you and Danny doing? You know, besides losing your apartments,” Tim asked awkwardly as Jason looked at towels, trying to decide what color Danny would like.

“We’re good,” Jason said absently. He wondered if Danny would prefer black or white towels. 

“You caved to his puppy eyes pretty quickly,” Tim noted with a mischievous smile. “You’ve never been vulnerable to Dick’s before.” 

“Dick isn’t adorable,” Jason said, deciding on black and throwing a bunch into his cart, the good big kind. He started to move onto kitchen stuff, pushing the cart awkwardly while trying to control his crutch, and Tim wheeled himself behind. 

“You think Danny is adorable?” Tim asked, a teasing note in his voice. Jason looked back at him and noted the smile creeping onto his face. 

“Yes, I do,” Jason said firmly. “He’s my goddamn boyfriend, of course I think he’s cute.” Tim put his hands up in surrender, a decidedly Danny gesture that he must be picking up. He put his hands down after just a second though to keep wheeling himself along. 

“Hey, I’ve never had a boyfriend. I don’t know how this works,” Tim said, placatingly. 

“You’ve dated girls before. It’s the same thing,” Jason grumbled, stopping in front of a rack of pans and trying to remember what his favorite ones had been, the ones that were now in the heap of rubble that had been his apartment. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Tim conceded. They lapsed into silence after that. It was eventually broken when Tim asked, “So you guys are officially living together?” Jason had to pause at that. He hadn’t actually thought about it. They’d never really moved in together in the apartments, Danny still went back to his place a lot. But now… Now they were really living together and he hadn’t actually brought it up with Danny. He decided he didn’t really need to. If it bothered Danny, he would have brought it up. 

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Jason answered Tim’s question. He found a few pots and pans he liked and added them to the already overflowing cart. “How are you doing anyway?” he asked Tim. 

“Fine,” Tim shrugged. “I’ll be out of the chair in a week, and then I get to start physical therapy,” he shuddered. Jason nodded sadly. Physical therapy sucked. 

“Good luck with that,” Jason offered. 

“Thanks,” Tim said. “Are we almost done?” Jason laughed, though he had to admit, shopping for this stuff wasn’t exactly thrilling. But, he was enjoying spending time with his brother. 

…

“Were back!” Jason announced as he opened the door. He was surprised to see most of the work had been finished. The living room was clean, the TV had been mounted perfectly level on the wall. The workout room had a few more pieces of equipment, including a treadmill, that looked brand new. The cabinets were all up on the walls, and nothing was broken. 

“Guys?” Jason called up the stairs. He turned to Tim who just shrugged,  _ he _ couldn’t go check. Jason sighed and struggled up the stairs. Last time he’d had Danny to help him up. He checked the unfinished bedroom first and was surprised to see that not only had the walls been painted, but someone had added a bed and a dresser, setting it up as a guest bedroom as they discussed a few days ago. 

Last, Jason checked his and Danny’s bedroom, where he found the three of them, all passed out on the bed. Dick had Damian pulled to his chest like a teddy bear, and Danny was laying on his back sprawled at the foot of the bed, his feet and legs hanging off the side. The credits to some movie where rolling quietly across the TV on the wall. 

Jason pulled out his phone and snapped a picture before knocking loudly on the door. All three of them bolted upright and Damian violently extracted himself from his brother's snuggles. 

“What?” Dick mumbled sleepily. 

“Jay!” Danny grinned at him. “How was shopping?” he asked. 

“Good,” Jason smiled back at him. “Why don’t you three get off your butts and get the stuff out of the car?” They all groaned, but dragged themselves to their feet to help.

…

That night, the five of them sat in Jason and Danny’s new living room and ate delivery pizza and ice cream to celebrate making the house livable. Some Disney movie that Dick had insisted on watching was playing on the TV. Jason had his good arm wrapped around his boyfriend who was already asleep, drooling on Jason’s shoulder. Despite the disaster that Harley had rained down on them a few days ago, this was nice. Jason was happy, happier than he thought he would ever be. He was on good terms with all of his brothers, and he had an amazing, adorable boyfriend. Despite the shit they’d been through, they’d pulled together and come out stronger. Nothing could possibly ruin the joy Jason felt in his heart. Nothing could break this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your continued support! Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Family

“Did you get my email?” Tim asked over the phone. 

“Hang on, let me check,” Jason said, putting the phone between his shoulder and ear and reaching for his new laptop where it sat on the coffee table. He’d been camping out on the couch that night, waiting for Danny to get home from patrol when Tim had called. He opened his laptop and went to his emails. Sure enough, there was a new one from Tim. 

“Yeah, I got it,” Jason said as he opened it. A file was attached and he started the download. “What am I looking at?” Jason asked as the file opened. 

“It’s all the data your helmet got of Harley’s first attack on you,” Tim explained. “I was able to get the footage of the fight off without your help, but the rest of the data was corrupted. Took me a few days to get anything useful out of it.” 

“I see,” Jason said as his brain worked to unravel the partial data he was seeing. “So we were right about the energy signature,” he said. 

“Yup,” Tim agreed. “It’s nearly the same as Phantom’s energy beams. Whoever made this weapon knew what Phantom is.”

“You think it was these GIW guys?” Jason asked. 

“Maybe,” Tim said, drawing the word out. “I still haven’t been able to hack into their servers though. I should ask Danny if he knows what the heck they're using as a firewall. I’m starting to think it’s not ordinary code. I did figure out what might GIW stand for though.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jason asked, curious. 

“Yeah,” Tim confirmed. “According to some online forums, they’ve been nicknamed, the Guys In White, but it actually stands for Ghost Investigation Ward.”

“Well that’s cheery,” Jason deadpanned. Tim snorted. 

“I know. I was also able to find some chatter on the forums about what Danny used to get up to before he was captured by the GIW. All the official information has been destroyed mind you. This is just hearsay. But it sounds like he saved his hometown quite a few times,” Tim explained, sounding impressed. Jason sighed. 

“I believe you, but Danny doesn’t like talking about his past,” Jason said sadly. “I want to help him, but he only _ just _ told me the scars on his arms aren’t self-inflicted.”

“Ouch,” Tim cringed, understanding what Jason was saying. 

“Yeah,” Jason sighed. “And his limp is from them. He has nightmares sometimes too,” he admitted. 

“We all have nightmares Jay,” Tim said. “It kinda comes with the job.” 

“I know, I just wish I could help him more,” Jason said, frustrated. 

“I’m sure you help a lot,” Tim comforted. “Sometimes just having someone nearby is a huge help.” 

“Yeah. Speaking of, how are you and Steph doing?” Jason changed the subject. Tim snorted. 

“She still won’t take me back, not that I blame her,” Tim muttered. 

“At least y'all aren’t trying to kill each other though,” Jason said, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to send you the data,” Tim said, ending that line of questioning. Jason let it drop. 

“Alright. Thanks,” Jason said. 

“Anytime,” Tim said and hung up. Jason set the phone down and looked closer at the data. He wondered who would have weapons like the one Harley had used. He picked up the new Red Hood helmet he was building from where it sat on the coffee table and slipped it on his head. It booted up instantly and Jason opened a direct com link to Phantom. 

“Hey, Phantom,” he greeted. 

“Hood,” Phantom panted, like he was out of breath. 

“Is this a bad time?” Jason asked. 

“Nope,” Phantom panted. “Just running from a pair of hyenas,” he explained casually. “Harley has mean pets.” 

“Ugh, is she still after us?” Jason groaned.

“Yup,” Phantom confirmed. Jason heard the telltale sound of a plasma blast and the yelp from what he assumed was a hyena. “One down, one to go,” Phantom said. “What’s up?”

“It can wait,” Jason offered. 

“Naw, it’s fine,” Phantom said. 

“Okay,” Jason said, drawing out the word. “Do you have any idea where Harley got that energy gun?” 

“There’s two places,” Phantom started before saying, “hang on.” Jason heard the sounds of a fight, the hyena snapping and laughing, before yelping and running off. “Okay. They ran off,” Phantom explained. “Where was I? Oh right. There’s two people I know of who could have made that gun. The GIW is one of them, and the other… Well, I doubt he made it.” 

“He?” Jason asked. 

“It’s not important,” Phantom brushed it off, but Jason very much wanted to press. “She definitely got it from the GIW.”

“That’s not good,” Jason decided. “They must know where you are if they gave Harley a weapon.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Phantom admitted. “But I destroyed their facility and I’m sure they thought I died when the building collapsed. They might think there’s another ghost, or halfa in Gotham, but I doubt they know it’s me,” he said, confidently. Jason wasn’t so sure. 

“Well, just keep your guard up out there,” Jason ordered. 

“I will,” Phantom agreed, and ended the connection. Jason sighed, pulled off his helmet and set the laptop and helmet down. He picked up a book and tried to read, but he didn’t absorb any of it. He was too worried about Danny. 

…

“Jay! Can you get the door!” Danny yelled from the top of the stairs when the doorbell rang. Jason sighed, and hauled himself up with his crutch. He went to the door and awkwardly pulled it open. Valerie stood there, dressed warmly against the new winter chill. 

“Oh, hey,” she greeted. “Jason right? Danny invited me,” she explained. 

“Uh,” Jason stammered, unprepared. 

“Hey Val!” Danny greeted as he came down the stairs. 

“Danny!” Val greeted back and Jason stepped away from the door to let her in. “How have you been doing? When you told me your apartment blew up I was so worried!” 

Jason glared at Danny behind Val’s back, he hadn’t told Jason he was going to tell Valerie about that. Danny saw Jason’s gaze and blushed. 

“I’m fine, Val,” Danny said gently. “It was Jason who took the brunt of it.” Valerie turned and really looked at Jason this time. She noticed the crutch and the cast, and the faint cuts and bruises still lingering on his face. Jason saw the pity in her eyes and his back stiffened.

“Well, I’m just glad you two are okay,” she said, sincerely. “Now show me around! This place is nice!” Danny led her toward the kitchen, talking about how he had helped make the place livable and Jason went back to the living room. He felt a tightening in his chest, and he recognized the emotion as jealousy. He told himself he was being ridiculous. He had nothing to be jealous about. Danny had told him about Valerie and how she’d dumped him before they ever got serious, but that didn't stop the tinny voice in his head. 

Jason sat down on the couch and picked up a book. He tried to focus on it, but instead his ears strained as he listened to Danny and Valerie’s conversation as they went throughout the house. Valerie was telling him about school, and how she was studying to be a criminal profiler. Eventually, they made their way back to the living room. Danny plopped down next to Jason on the couch, and Valerie took the chair. 

“So Jason, what do you do?” she asked him. Caught off guard, Jason set his book down slowly. He didn’t have a response to this question, but Danny saved him. 

“He’s out of work right now,” Danny explained. “But normally he drives for Uber.”

“Wow, you can actually make decent money that way?” Valerie asked, a suspicious note to her voice. 

“Uh, yeah,” Jason said, trying to sound convincing. “I know the city really well.” At least that bit was true. 

“You grew up here?” Valerie asked. 

“Yeah, I did,” Jason said simply, not wanting to elaborate. 

“I can’t imagine growing up in a city this big,” she said, tipping her head back. “It’s so busy, and there are so many people. Amity Park is nothing like this place.” Jason saw a dark shadow pass over Danny’s face, and quickly wracked his brain for a change of topic. 

“I heard you tell Danny you’re studying criminal psych?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she confirmed, with a light in her eyes. 

“You know, one of my brothers is a cop in Bludhaven,” Jason offered. 

“Oh yeah?” she asked, genuinely curious. “That’s cool. You’ll have to introduce us some day.”

“Sure,” Jason said, not sure he meant it.

...

Valerie stayed for a few hours after that, mostly talking about school and all the cool places she’d found in Gotham. Jason found himself pulled into the conversation more than he really felt up to. Sure, he could talk about all the cool dive bars and clubs of Gotham for hours, and criminal psychology was interesting, but Jason was tired. His social battery was still recovering from all the time at the manor and with his brothers. He worried he came across as rude. When Valerie finally left, Danny confronted him. 

“Okay, what’s wrong?” he asked as he rejoined Jason on the couch. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Jason sighed. Danny narrowed his eyes. 

“You’ve been acting all pissy since Val came over,” Danny observed. “Something is wrong.”

“I’m just tired,” Jason said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. 

“You’ve been sitting on the couch all day,” Danny said, cocking his head to one side. 

“Not physically tired,” Jason explained. “I’m mentally tired. I don’t have a huge social battery.”

“Social battery?” Danny asked, confusion in his voice. 

“You’re an extrovert aren’t you?” Jason asked. 

“I guess,” Danny shrugged. 

“Well I’m not,” Jason explained. “I’m an introvert. I need to be alone to recharge my socal batteries. I get tired when I’m around a lot of people for a while, and I need to be alone to recharge. You’re an extrovert. You need to be around people to recharge and get tired when you’re alone,” Jason finished. 

“Oh,” Danny said. “I guess I should have asked if I could have Valerie over. Sorry," he said, looking like a kicked puppy.

“It’s okay,” Jason let out a breath, putting his hand on Danny’s chin tilting it upwards so that he would look at him. “We never really set any house rules.”

“Should we?” Danny asked as he took Jason’s hand in his. 

“Set house rules?” Jason asked, sitting up straighter and looking at his boyfriend more seriously. 

“Yeah. We’re living together now. I think it’s a good idea,” Danny smiled at him. Jason smiled back. 

“Okay,” he agreed. 

“Okay,” Danny confirmed. “Rule number one, no inviting people over without checking with each other first.” Jason’s smile fell. 

“I can’t guarantee my brothers won’t just show up,” he groaned. Danny laughed. 

“I think they can be an exception. After all, it’s not like you invited them. They just show up when they want," he said with a cheesy smile.

“Fair enough,” Jason laughed. 

Together, they set ground rules for the house before ordering take out and enjoying the evening together before Danny had to go out on patrol.

…

“Jason!” Danny yelled excitedly from the bedroom. Jason was in the shower. 

“What!?” he called back. Danny burst through the bathroom door and Jason stuck his head out. Danny was holding his phone up for him to see. 

“Did you know they still made Heelys?!” Danny exclaimed. 

“Made what?” Jason blinked. 

“Heelys!” Danny shoved his phone further into Jason’s face and he looked at it. On the phone was a picture of a pair of shoes with wheels in the heels. “I’d always wanted a pair,” Danny explained, pulling his phone away and looking at the screen. “But my parents never got them for me. They make them in adult sizes!”

“You want a pair don’t you?” Jason asked, rolling his eyes. 

“Yes,” Danny said, giving him those puppy dog eyes. Jason sighed, he could never say no to that face. 

“Well, buy them then,” he said, pulling his head back into the shower and slipping back under the hot spray. 

“Awesome!” Danny yelled. “You’re the best Jay!” he said as he left the bathroom without closing the door.

Jason sighed at his boyfriends antics, but there was a smile on his face, because no matter what, Danny was always very adorable.

…

“Woah!” Danny exclaimed as he tried to find the balance point on his heels. They were in the bedroom, which wasn’t really the best place to test his Heelys out considering it was carpeted. 

“Easy,” Jason said as Danny pitched forward into him. Jason caught him and hissed in pain. 

“Sorry,” Danny stepped away from him. 

“It’s fine,” Jason ground out. 

“No it’s not,” Danny argued. “What’d I hit?” 

“Just my ribs,” Jason said. “I’m fine.” Danny chewed on his lip for a minute before standing on his toes and kissing Jason. Jason was caught off guard and didn’t react fast enough before Danny pulled away. They hadn’t really been intimate since Jason had been hurt, Danny seemed almost scared to touch him. But now, something throbbed inside of Jason as he realized how long it’d been since they’d really kissed, or done anything really. 

Jason used his good arm to pull Danny close and pressed their mouths together. Danny opened his mouth and let Jason slip his tongue inside. Jason moaned and pressed their body’s closer together. 

“Happy to see me huh?” Danny laughed, noticing the hardness between them. Jason growled deep in his throat. 

“I’m going to ravage you,” he growled, his voice husky. 

“Is that so?” Danny laughed. Jason pushed him, and Danny fell onto the bed, still laughing. Jason climbed in after him and used his good arm to prop himself over him. Danny grinned up at him and wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck. He pulled them closer, and Jason lost his balance and fell onto Danny’s chest. The impact didn’t hurt the meta, but Jason groaned in pain. 

“Jay?” Danny asked, worry in his voice as Jason rolled off him and onto his back. 

“I’m fine,” Jason groaned. 

“I’m sorry,” Danny said.

“Stop apologizing,” Jason hissed, sitting up. He scooted himself to the edge of the bed, and sat there, trying to catch his breath. Danny came up beside him and looked sad for a moment, before a smile crept over his face. 

“You know,” he said slowly. “Maybe I can ravage you.”

...

**Go to REDACTED for smut**

...

“This is fun,” Danny said as he used a shopping cart to balance as he Heelyed around the store. Jason smiled at his antics. 

“Now you just need to figure out how to do it without training wheels,” he commented. 

“Yeah, yeah, in a minute,” Danny brushed him off as he kicked off again, rolling another few feet. They’d gone shopping for new clothes, both of their wardrobes had been torched in the explosion, and they’d only had a few outfits for the past week, courtesy of Alfred’s emergency supplies. 

“What do you think about this shirt?” Jason asked, holding up one with a wonder woman logo on it. Danny rolled over and snorted. 

“That’d piss off your dad,” he grinned, like the thought pleased him. 

“That’s the idea,” Jason winked at him, and tossed it into the cart. 

“You know,” Danny started, using the cart to steady himself as he balanced on his wheels again, “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun shopping for clothes.”

“You’re not having fun shopping,” Jason corrected. “You’re having fun being a total dork.”

“But I’m your total dork,” Danny grinned at him. Jason smiled and leaned down to kiss him, Danny met him halfway. 

“I think I’m ready to try without the shopping cart now,” Danny said, attention back on his Heelys and Jason just had to laugh. 

…

The rain was absolutely pouring outside, and Jason was starting to wonder where the hell Danny was. It wasn’t safe to be out in this weather, not when Phantom had recently decided to start riding a motorcycle into the city. All the criminals would be inside in this weather anyway. Winter was well on it’s way and the rain half froze in the streets, creating a dangerous slush. 

“That little bastard,” Jason growled as he grabbed his helmet off the coffee table, intent on calling Phantom. Just before he put the helmet on he heard the sound of an engine pulling into the garage. 

“Thank fuck,” Jason muttered, and marched to the entryway. The door to the garage was right next to the front door, and by the time Jason got to it, Danny was standing in the entryway, soaking wet. 

“Hi,” he grinned and Jason felt the tension and worry leak out of his body. 

“Hi yourself,” Jason said, when he noticed a bulge under Danny’s jacket. “What the?” he asked, and the bulge moved. 

“Oh, yeah,” Danny said, looking down at his chest. “I found him under a dumpster, I couldn’t leave him,” he explained as he unzipped his leather riding jacket. He extracted a small, black mass and held it out for Jason to see. 

“Isn’t he cute?” he asked. Jason looked at the little fuzzy thing and realized it was a puppy! A small, black, pitbull puppy, looking very thin and wet. It blinked at him. 

“It’s a dog,” Jason said flatly, unsure. 

"Yep!” Danny said popping the P, enthused. He set the small creature on the floor and continued to strip out of his sodden clothes. 

“He was all alone,” Danny explained. “I looked for his mom, but I couldn’t find her. He was shivering, and I’ve always wanted a dog.” He left his wet clothes by the door, keeping only his boxers on. Jason looked at him, still unsure. He’d never really had the desire to get a pet, and he would have preferred a cat. But as he watched the tiny puppy tottle around the hall, sniffing at his boots, he knew he couldn’t kick the pitiful thing out. 

“Do we have anything he can eat?” Danny asked, scooping the little guy up. 

“I think we have some raw chicken,” Jason said. 

“Can you cook it?” Danny asked. “I’m pretty sure plain, boiled chicken is okay for dogs. I’m going to go dry us off and put on some clothes.” Danny bounded up the stairs, puppy in toe. Jason rolled his eyes and sighed with a little smile on his face. He pulled out his phone to see what else dogs could eat as he headed for the kitchen. 

…

“Can I help you?” Jason asked flatly. Standing in his doorway were Dick and Damian, holding several shopping bags. 

“Danny sent me photos of your new dog,” Damian replied, equally as flat. “I wanted to ensure he was properly cared for.” 

“I take great care of Danny,” Jason said, a shit eating grin stretching across his face. Damian, frowned at him, confused for a second, before he tisked. 

“You understood perfectly well what I meant,” he said, irritation lacing his words. 

“We brought puppy food,” Dick said, holding up a large bag of kibble. “Can we see him?” he asked. Jason sighed and held the door open for them. Damian marched inside and his foot clipped Jason’s crutch, throwing him off balance. 

“Watch it,” Jason growled, but Damian ignored him. 

“Danny! Get your butt downstairs! And bring Cujo!” Jason yelled up the stairs. He heard a crash and cursing in esperanto, before Danny appeared at the top of the stairs, Cujo in his arms. 

“You named him Cujo?” Damian asked, confused. 

“Like the Stephen King book?” Dick asked. 

“Yeah,” Danny said, as he came down the stairs. 

“Why?” Damian asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s a long story,” Danny said simply. “Do you want to hold him?” 

Damian nodded and gently took the puppy, and cradled him in his arms. Jason had never seen the boy look at anything the way he looked at the tiny pitbull. His eyes were full of love and wonder. 

“Aww, he’s adorable!” Dick cooed as he looked over Damian’s shoulder. Cujo sneezed and Jason thought Dick was going to have a heart attack. 

“What have you been feeding him?” Damian asked, the question genuine. 

“Boiled chicken,” Danny answered and Damian nodded. 

“That’s good,” Damian said. “But I brought properly formulated puppy food. You should start feeding him that. And you need to make a vet appointment to get his shots. I can recommend you to the vet where I take Titius,” Damian offered. 

“That’d be great!” Danny agreed. 

“Damian, can I hold him now?” Dick whined. Damian glared at him, but Dick gave him his signature puppy eyes. It didn’t hold a candle to Danny’s, but Damian relented and handed the puppy to his brother. Dick cradled Cujo for a moment before sitting down cross legged on the floor and playing with the puppy. 

“Let me show you what else we got,” Damian said, leading Danny over to the pile of bags they’d brought. He pulled out toys, a bed, treats, and a leash and collar. He explained what Danny needed to do to raise a puppy, how to potty train him, and when to feed him. 

Jason sat on the floor with Dick and Cujo. Dick had grabbed a rope toy from a bag and was waggling it at the pup. Cujo enthusiastically leaped on it, taking in his mouth and shaking it as viciously as he could. 

“He’s a feisty little one,” Dick commented. 

“Yeah, he’s warmed up fast,” Jason agreed. He was glad the puppy hadn't lost his spirit being born on the streets and separated from his mother and siblings. He’d slept between Jason and Danny last night. Jason had barely gotten any sleep, afraid he would roll over and crush the poor thing in the night. He couldn’t wait till Cujo was bigger and that wouldn’t be a worry.

“I’m surprised you let Danny keep him,” Dick said, voice low so as not to be overheard. 

“I couldn’t say no to him,” Jason admitted, scratching Cujo’s rump. “They came in soaking wet and both turned those puppy eyes on me.”

“Tim said you were weak to Danny’s puppy eyes,” Dick laughed. 

“He did?” Jason asked. “That bastard,” he muttered. Dick laughed louder and Danny and Damian looked over. 

“What do you find amusing?” Damian asked. 

“Nothing Dami,” Dick said, waving him off. Damian rolled his eyes and went back to talking with Danny. Jason watched the two of them talk and realized they were getting along well, bonding over their shared love of dogs. He looked back at Dick, playing with the puppy on the floor, and realized he hadn’t snapped at Dick in months. Somehow, without really realizing it, Danny had brought them all together. He’d somehow managed to help Jason get closer with his brothers. He had a family again, and it felt good. 

...

Jason was getting worried. Danny hadn’t come home yet, and he wasn’t responding to his coms. He’d been fine a few hours ago, Jason had talked to him! He’d been dealing with a convenience store robbery and was fine. He’d gone silent shortly after that and Jason was worried. So he gave up waiting and called Oracle. 

“Oracle, do you have Phantom’s location?” he asked before the woman had a chance to say anything. 

“Uh, let me look,” Oracle said, catching the urgency in Jason’s tone. “Hmm, I’m not seeing him on any of my cameras. Does he have a tracker on him?”

“He’s supposed to, but the damn thing stopped working,” Jason explained, his tone getting frantic. Cujo, who had been sleeping on his lap, woke up and whined. 

“Calm down, Hood,” Oracle ordered. “When was the last time you heard from him?”

“About four hours ago,” Jason said, trying to take deep breaths. “He’d just stopped a robbery on Fifth.”

“Okay. Let me go back and see where he went after,” Oracle said. Jason could hear her typing on her computer. He set Cujo on the floor and started to pace the living room, unable to sit still anymore. The pup followed him around, whining. 

“Okay, I have it,” Oracle said, and Jason stopped pacing. Cujo scratched at his legs, wanting to be picked up, but Jason ignored him. “He stopped the robbery and then went back on patrol. I’ll follow the camera trail and see where he went.” Jason heard more typing, before everything suddenly went silent. 

“Oh shit,” Oracle whispered. 

“What?!” Jason demanded. 

“Uhh,” Oracle said. 

“What happened?!” Jason yelled, getting scared. 

“I’m sending it to you,” Oracle said numbly. 

“What is it?!” Jason demanded, even as he threw his laptop open and pulled up his emails. 

“You have to look at it,” Oracle explained, her voice flat. Jason clicked on the link and pulled up a video feed, probably a clone of the feed coming from Oracle’s computer. On it was a video with a timestamp from nearly four hours ago. It showed Batman fighting Phantom, and Batman was winning. 

Jason saw green as the lazarus rage welled up in his body, and he let it in. In the video, Batman shot Danny with a green energy blast, and the already weak meta dropped. Phantom lay on the ground, unconscious. Batman picked him up, and slung him over his shoulder. 

“What did he do to him?” Jason asked, his voice cold and low. 

“It looks like he handed him over to some men in a white van,” Oracle whispered. 

“Show me,” Jason demanded, his voice still dangerous. The image on his laptop changed, and Jason watched in horror as Batman handed the unconscious, and now bound, meta over to several men in white suits. They nodded to the Bat and loaded Phantom into a white van with the letters GIW painted on it in huge black print. 

Jason’s blood boiled, and he bolted for the door, grabbing his keys on the way. He slammed the garage door, and Cujo barked at it, unhappy at being left in the house alone. Jason didn’t have time to worry about the dog, his rage was an inferno. He was going to murder the Bat, and no one was going to be able to stop him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the one I started writing this fanfic to write, so I hope y’all are hyped!  
> Oh, and the Heely thing is totally something I just experienced.


	13. From My Point of View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to part two! The story structure is going to change a little bit from here on out. Basically, we’re going to start changing perspectives as it suits the story.

**Part Two**

Jason leapt on his bike and took off the moment the garage door was open far enough. As the pit rage boiled in his chest, he didn’t even realize he forgot a helmet. Rain beat down on him, soaking him and making it hard to see. Nevertheless, he drove like a maniac, dodging and weaving around cars, heading for the edge of town. 

Trees flew past as he sped up the hidden road, the huge rock wall looming before him. Just as he was about to crash headlong into it, the hidden door rose up and let him through. Lights clicked on overhead, illuminating the rough stone walls, but Jason didn’t pay any of it a thought. He knew this path so well he could drive it blindfolded. His mind was elsewhere, consumed with the thought of what Batman had done to the one person Jason had ever dared to truly give his heart to since his death. Nothing would save him from Jason’s wrath. 

He pulled up in the parking section of the cave and leapt off the bike, the motor still running. He heard the crash as it fell on it’s side and the noise drew the attention of everyone in the cave. It looked like Jason had interrupted a meeting. Nightwing, Robin, and Batman stood near the computer still dressed in their suits from their patrol. Tim leaned on a pair of crutches nearby with Alfred lingering in the shadows. 

They all turned as Jason stomped toward them, expressions confused, except for Batman. A frown crossed the man's face, like he was expecting this, but was still disappointed. That only fueled the rage in Jason’s heart. 

“What are you...?” Nightwing started to say as Jason drew his gun. Before anyone could react, he got off three shots into Batman’s chest, sending the man back into the computer console, the armor of the suit stopped the bullets from penetrating his body. Jason could have aimed for his head, and the Lazarus rage in his gut wanted him to, but he also wanted Batman to suffer. 

“Jason!” Tim yelled. Jason glanced at him, at the fear, hurt, and confusion in his brother's face. Then Nightwing hit him like a tank. The two men went down, and Jason fought like an animal, kicking, and biting. He got his teeth around something and bit down hard. Nightwing yelled and Jason was able to land a punch on his brother's nose. Jason got out of Nightwings hold and scrambled to his feet. 

“Jason stop!” Robin demanded, standing between him and Batman, the man still catching his breath after taking three rounds to the chest. 

“Out of my way brat,” Jason growled. Jason saw the moment Robin realized what was going on. The boy wasn’t wearing his mask, and Jason saw his eyes flick up to his face. 

“You’re eyes,” Robin gasped. “The Lazarus rage.” Jason stepped towards the kid, who held his ground. Jason didn’t want to, but the rage within him drove him to attack. Damain didn’t put up much of a fight. He danced out of the way of Jason’s attacks, leaving the path free. 

By the time Jason barreled into Batman, the man had recovered enough to defend himself. They grappled for a while, exchanging blows. 

“You’re an absolute bastard!” Jason yelled as his foot connected with Batman’s knee. The leg crumpled and Jason wound back for a punch, when someone grabbed him from behind. Nigthwing had recovered, and had looped his arms under Jason’s and pressed his palms to the back of Jason’s head, making it impossible to move his arms. Jason kicked backwards instead, foot connecting with his brother’s knee. The hold loosened, and Jason was able to get free. He lunged for Batman again, but the man was ready this time, and got ahold of Jason’s left arm, the one that was still healing, and twisted it behind his back. 

Jason, who hadn’t felt any pain since the rage took hold of his body, screamed as the rain weakened cast crumpled and the bone re-broke. 

“Stop it!” someone yelled, Jason couldn’t tell if it was Damian or Tim. Batman let go, and Jason fell to his knees on the floor, cradling the mangled limb. He panted hard, all his energy spent. Some of the rage drained away as fear and despair took its place. Someone knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Jason flinched. 

“Jason?” Nightwing asked gently. Jason looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “What’s going on?” his brother asked. Jason took a deep breath to collect himself. He stood up, and Nightwing let him. 

“Oracle, show them,” Jason ordered, turning to the computer, but nothing happened. Realization dawned, and Jason whirled on Batman. “You locked her out!?” he demanded. Batman held his ground, but didn’t deny it. 

“Jason, what’s going on?” Tim asked, his voice slightly hysterical. Jason glanced at him before placing his hands on the keyboard, prepared to undo whatever Batman had done to lock their ‘guy in the chair’ out of the Bat mainframe. The moment the fingers of his left hand touched the keys however, he winced in pain and yanked the brutalized arm back to his chest. 

“Let me,” Tim said, gently edging him out of the way. Jason stepped away as Tim retrieved the chair that had been shoved away in the fight, and sat down. His fingers flew over the keys as he found whatever the Bat had done and undid it. 

“There,” he declared. “Can you hear us Oracle?” 

“Yes,” her voice answered. “Jason, I’m pulling up the video now.” The room stood in silence as the video played. Jason had only seen the very end of it before, so now he got to witness the true display of Batman’s ruthless brutality. The first thing the Bat did was hit Phantom with an EMP blast, rendering his com and trackers useless. 

“What the?” Phantom’s lips formed the words in the audioless footage, before a blast of green light shot out of the weapon in Batman’s hand and hit Phantom in the chest. The fight was brutal and quick. Despite how good Phantom was in a fight, he’d never been Bat trained, and thus couldn’t hold his own in a true fight with one. He was unconscious in minutes. The footage cut again to the moment when Batman handed Phantom over to the GIW. When the screen went black again, everyone turned on Batman. 

“Explain, now!” Nightwing demanded. Batman took a step toward the brothers. Jason hadn’t been paying attention, but during the video, all three of his brothers had gathered around him, getting between him and the Bat. Something stirred in his chest at the realization that they were choosing him. In this moment, they were siding with him, over their mentor, their father. 

“He’s a criminal,” Batman growled. “The Justice League was tasked by the government to recapture him. I took the responsibility into my own hands.”

“Bullshit!” Jason swore, taking a step forward, but his brothers blocked his way, holding him back with hands on his shoulders. He didn’t brush them off. “Phantom hasn’t hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it!”

“They showed me footage of him attacking his hometown,” Batman argued. “He’s robbed, and hurt, and caused havoc. He’s a dangerous criminal and needs to be locked up where he can’t hurt anyone. They’re taking him back to the metahuman prison he broke out of,” Batman said, his voice too calm. Jason shook, glad for the steadying touch of his brothers to keep him upright.

“The GIW are the group that dissected him!” Jason yelled, and even his brothers flinched. They hadn’t been told that little detail yet. Batman’s expression changed to one of uncertainty. “They repeatedly dislocated his leg just to see what would happen and now Danny forever walks with a limp,” Jason continued. “They tore up his throat to keep him from using his ghostly wail on them and now even talking is difficult for him. The scars on his arms aren't from self harm, they were to see how much damage he could heal. They tore the core of his power to shreds and he can barely access his powers now! You didn’t lock up a dangerous criminal! You gave an abused kid back to the wolves that tore him to pieces!” Jason screamed. The whole room was tense, and even Batman looked shocked. After a few moments of tense silence, the Bat's expressions hardened.

“You have no proof,” Batman started to say. 

“Oh, shove it,” Nightwing interrupted. “We all know Danny. He isn’t what the GIW said he is.”

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “I looked up the GIW. I can’t even hack into their servers to see what is going on. They’re hiding some big, something they don’t want us finding. A government run meta prison would not need security that powerful.” 

“Now,” Nigthwing said. “Are you going to help us get Danny back? Or are you going to stay out of our way?” Batman narrowed his eyes at them. 

Jason muttered, “What good is his help anyway?” Batman glared at him, but Jason just turned his head away. As the tension rose, Alfred, who had kept out of the whole situation, stepped forward. 

“I’m going to make some tea and sandwiches,” he declared. “I suspect it’s going to be a long night.” He turned a disappointed look at Batman as he walked past. The tension broken, Batman turned his back on them. 

“I’m going to shower,” he muttered, and walked away. Once he was out of sight, the remaining tension left the air. Jason let out a breath and sank to the floor, his back pressed against the computer console. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Nightwing asked, kneeling next to him. Jason looked at the faces of his brothers. They all looked tired, scared, and worried. He needed to be strong right now, for them, but he didn’t know how. 

“No,” he admitted. “But I need to find Danny.” Nightwing nodded. 

“We will Jay, we’ll find him,” Nightwing said. “But first, let’s look at your arm.” Jason let his brothers haul him back to his feet, and take him to the medical room to set his arm. He was going to need both his arms working if he wanted to strangle Batman, but he was going to have to wait till after he had Danny back safe and sound. 

…

…

Danny pressed himself as far into the corner of the cell as he could. His body shook with pain and fear. The GIW had put heavy metal bands full of ecto uranium around his wrists, ankles, and neck, keeping him in his ghost form while still blocking all of his powers. It hurt, and sent him into horrible flashbacks of the last time he’d been here. He’d barely survived that time, and he wasn’t sure he would this time. 

_ ‘Jason will come,’ _ he thought to himself. _ ‘Jason will find me. He knows all about the GIW. I told him enough about them that he should be able to find me.’  _ He was sure Jason would look for him. He was always worried when Danny didn’t come home on time. He would notice the moment he was late, and go looking. Jason would find out what happened, and then he and his brothers would find him. Batman could go suck a dick for all Danny cared. 

A bang sounded from somewhere in the building, and Danny hunkered back down in his corner. He’d already been here a few days at least, and they’d already started to experiment on him. His arms dripped blood and ectoplasme from the numerous cuts, and his back ached from the lashes. They were mad about what he’d done to their last laboratory. Apparently some of the scientists had survived the collapse of the building, and we're happy to take their revenge on him, torturing him and calling it science. The only thing that was keeping Danny sane were his memories of Jason. He curled himself into a tight ball, and let memories fill his tired mind.

…

Danny stood on the roof across from The Red Hood. It was the first time he was meeting the vigilante, and he was kinda scary. 

“So you’re the ghost I’ve heard about?” Red Hood asked, casually, like he didn’t really care what the answer was. Danny had to hold back a flinch as the man drew a gun from his holster. 

“Phantom,” Danny said, trying to keep his tone as casual as Red Hood was. 

“Phantom?” Red Hood asked. “How original. What are you doing in Gotham Phantom? Don’t you know this is Bat territory?” Ah, now there was the question. What the hell  _ was  _ Danny doing in Gotham. He’d been free from the GIW for nearly a year, and had been living on the streets of Gotham for most of that time. He’d come here because the city was big, and there were so many criminals and metas that anything  _ he _ did that might attract the attention of the GIW was bound to be lost in the noise. But, after a year of laying low, of living off scraps, pick-pocketing the rich and begging on the street, Danny had seen enough. The crime in this city was horrible, even with the help of the Bats and Red Hood. There was just too much crime. Danny couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer when he knew he could help. 

And so, he’d gotten together a crappy costume, and made his move. He chose the Narrows for several reasons. It was the worst of the crime for a start. And, he knew the Bat’s were suspicious of new players. Red Hood was a wild card though. He worked alone, and held an iron grip over the crime of the Narrows and Crime Alley. But Danny had a plan, and now it was time to put it into action. 

“The Narrows aren’t the Bats,” Danny said smugly. He couldn't see Red Hood’s expression from under the helmet, but he saw the man’s grip tighten on his gun. 

“No, the Narrows aren’t the Bat’s, they’re mine. And I assure you, I’m much worse," Red Hood growled. Now was Danny’s moment. If he said the wrong thing here, it was over. He was dead, or run out of Gotham. He’d have to find somewhere else to live, maybe Bludhaven, or Star City. 

“Look, I’m not trying to take over or undermine you,” Danny said, putting his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “I just want to help. You know, take out the small fry. I’ll leave the big jobs to you.” 

Red Hood tilted his head. “I don’t need help," he said, harshly. Danny mentally cursed. That was strike one. He tried again. 

“I believe you. But just cause you don’t  _ need _ it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice right? Less time spent stopping muggings and drug deals, more time to spend taking down the king pins or catching up on sleep, or whatever,” Danny said, smirking to try to show that he didn’t really care either way. 

“I don’t work with people I don’t know,” Red Hood said. And Danny knew that was strike two. If he messed up a third time, this was all over. 

“Then what if I worked  _ for _ you instead of  _ with _ you?” Danny tried. His heart soared when he saw Red Hood tip his head, as if considering the idea. 

“You’d do what I say and work by my rules?” Red Hood asked. Danny wanted to whoop, he’d done it. Now to seal the deal. 

“Sure, whatever you want. I just want to help. I live here too ya know?” He threw that last bit in in an attempt to appeal to Red Hood’s clear loyalty to his city. Even though he’d disappeared for a year, Danny had heard the stories. Red Hood had still come back. He clearly loved this place, and Danny hoped that by showing he had a reason to care, it would push the man toward letting Danny help. 

“Alright,” Red Hood said slowly. “You can work for me. But, if I hear that you’ve been hurting instead of helping...” Red Hood pointed his gun at him and Danny had to resist the urge to flinch, “I’ll put a bullet in your head no questions asked," he said, his voice low, and dangerous. Despite the threat, Danny was thrilled. He’d done it! He’d gotten Red Hood’s permission to keep taking down criminals in his territory. It was exactly what he wanted. Danny grinned. 

“Meet me back here tomorrow at 10:00 PM, and we’ll go over the terms of your employment,” Red Hood said, holstering his gun. Danny took that as his cue to leave.

“Sweet! See you then,” Danny declared, and ran for the edge of the building. He leapt off and used what little control he still had over his flight to float down to the ground. He couldn’t fly properly anymore, but he could still use his power this way, and to give himself a bit of a boost when he jumped. Danny looked back up at the roof and saw Red Hood looking down at him. He had a fun idea, and so, with a salute, he turned intangible and sunk through the street. He was sure the feat looked impressive, but as his nose was assaulted with the stench of the sewers, he immediately regretted it.

…

Danny was pulled from the memory when the door to his cell opened. He pressed himself further into the corner as a man in a white lab coat stepped inside. He was holding a tray of food, and Danny felt his stomach growl. They’d barely fed him, and he was ravenous.

“Are you going to be a good little bastard and let me draw some blood?” the man asked in a sticky sweet voice. Danny shook his head. Jason would want him to fight back against these monsters, whatever the cost. The smile on the man's face fell. He dropped the tray and the bowl of thin soup spilled all over the floor. Faster than Danny was expecting, the man was on top of him, his knees on Danny’s legs, a hand on the side of his head, pressing the side of his face into the wall. 

Danny gasped as the man slammed his head into the wall, over and over until he saw stars. Dazed, Danny sat there as the man inserted a huge needle into the already shredded skin of his arm. He drew so much blood that Danny felt light headed, on top of the dizziness he felt from the beating his skull had taken. Once the man had gotten what he came for, he left. Danny curled into a ball on the floor, waiting till his mind cleared. For the first time since he’d been recaptured, Danny let himself cry. He sought comfort once again in his memories of Jason.

…

The next time Danny saw Red Hood, the man tossed him a phone with a casual, “Here.”

“A phone?” Danny asked, looking at the dinosaur age thing. He hadn’t had a phone for three years, not since before his parents, well…

“Yeah,” Red Hood confirmed. “In case we need to contact each other. If you’re going to be working for me, I want to be able to find you.” Danny felt this might be a trap, so he flipped the phone open and scrolled through the contacts. Only one was listed under the name, Red Hood. He called it. A phone in Red Hood's pocket started to ring. 

“Really?” Red Hood asked, irritation clear in his tone. 

“I just wanted to make sure it works,” Danny shrugged. He was satisfied however, and hung up the phone. He was going to have to check it for bugs before he went back to his crappy hide out though. He didn’t want Red Hood tracking him. 

“Well it works. Just keep it charged. I’m serious about wanting to be able to contact you. If something comes up and I need your help, I have to be able to talk to you,” Red Hood said, his tone serious.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Danny said, in a tone that he hoped would annoy the vigilante. He didn’t want to piss the man off enough to make him want to shoot him, but Danny couldn’t help the desire to banter with the guy. He was desperate for a friend. 

“Anyway, I want you to keep an eye on the main streets tonight. I’ve got something near the docks I want to check out. Just take care of muggings and robberies. Leave drug deals alone unless they’re selling to kids. Then show no mercy. And keep an eye out for the working girls. I’ll let them know that you’re working for me now and they’ll spread the word around. They’re the best source of news and secrets in this city, so be nice to them, ya hear,” Red Hood said, like he really was Danny's boss.

“Sure,” Danny said, trying to sound like he’d understood all of that. 

“Alright, off with you,” Red Hood said. “Call me if anything major comes up. I’d hate to find you got yourself killed on the first night.” 

“On it. This isn’t my first rodeo,” Danny said smugly. He turned and leapt off the building, using his powers to give him a boots across the gap, trying to impress the guy. He hoped it worked. 

…

The first thing Danny did once he was sure Red Hood wasn’t following him, was open the phone and look for bugs. There was a small chip and wire connected to the battery that Danny was sure didn’t belong. He was glad the bug was so easy to find, he’d never actually had to find one before. He ripped the little thing out and stomped it underboot. After that, the night went smoothly.

...

After their patrol was over, and they’d talked a little bit about Danny’s powers, Red Hood gave him a huge wad of cash, more money than Danny had ever seen in his life. With this kinda money he could get an actual apartment. He could get off the street and have a shower that wasn’t cold water in a homeless shelter. As soon as he was sure Red Hood wasn’t following him, Danny turned back to his human form and headed to the library. 

He used the public computers to look for apartments in the Narrows. He wanted to be close to the slums so he wouldn’t have to travel far to go on patrol. Luck was with him because he found the perfect place. It was a little pricey for the Narrows, which was probably why it was still available, but he could afford it assuming Red Hood actually paid him the same amount every week, but Danny was going to hope. He called the landlord and set up a time to look at the apartment. 

…

The place wasn’t much, but it was more than Danny had had in a long time. He wasn’t able to move in right away, there was some paperwork to fill out, so he had to spend two more nights on the street. He patrolled with Red Hood both nights. The second night, he met Red Robin and Robin, who clearly knew Red Hood and were protective of him. Robin, who was scary for a kid, challenged Danny to a sparring match. Danny had never spared before, but he did his best. Robin still beat him every time but he’d held his own decently well. For someone without real training, he was proud to have done so well against a Bat trained kid. 

Finally, Danny got the keys to the apartment. He still had a decent amount of cash left, so he hit the stores looking for some furniture. He didn’t need much, a couch, a dresser, maybe a table. Once he had made the place look at least somewhat lived in, he went out for a meal. 

When he arrived back at his apartment, Danny realized he’d forgotten his keys in the apartment. He cursed himself. If his core was undamaged, he could just turn intangible and walk through the door, but that wasn’t an option any more. He’d have to transform fully into Phantom, and that was risky. It was tiring for one thing, changing back and forth, and this place wasn’t safe. He’d have to go back outside, and find an abandoned building somewhere to transform. He was pulled from his thoughts when someone behind him asked, “Hey, you good?” 

Danny turned around and got his first look at Jason. He was standing there, with an amused look on his face, a red hoodie thrown over a superman t-shirt. His jeans were worn, and his boots scuffed. His eyes were a strange blue green, like someone had put a small amount of ectoplasme in each eye. He had a white streak of hair in his bangs, and Danny instantly had a crush on him. 

“I uh, locked my keys in my apartment,” Danny explained, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. 

“Oh, that sucks,” Jason said. 

“I just moved in,” Danny explained. “You must live above me. I’m Danny.” Danny stuck his hand out. Jason shook it, and Danny noticed the roughness of the man's hand. 

“I’m Jason. Is your window unlocked?” Jason asked.

...

Danny smiled at the memory, before his small joy faded with the sound of his cell door unlocking.

…

Danny listened to the scientists talk as they injected him with painful serums and watched the monitors to see what happened. They were talking about how easy it had been to convince Batman to capture him for them. Danny’s blood boiled at the thought, and he remembered the first time he’d met the Bat. 

…

Meeting Batman for the first time had been utterly terrifying. Danny remembered how he and Red Hood had been running along the rooftops, on patrol, when Red Hood suddenly stopped and threw his arm up. 

“Hold up,” Red Hood said, tilting his head, like he was listening. 

“What is it?” Danny asked, fear settling in his gut. He sensed it too, someone was watching them. Red Hood turned in a circle, but made an effort to keep Danny behind him. Danny followed his motion and let the more experienced vigilante guard him. He watched as Red Hood scanned the rooftops before settling on something. Danny saw it too, a darker patch of shadow.

“Stay behind me,” Red Hood warned, as Batman landed in front of them. Danny repressed a shiver. He’d been keeping up with Batman’s movements since he was a kid. The hero had been almost a role model for Danny, something to strive for. But being in his presence now, he was scared. This was not the hero he was expecting, the feeling was all wrong. Batman was a dangerous, feral animal that would bite if given the slightest reason.

“What do you want Bats?” Red Hood demanded. He stayed in front of Danny, and crossed his arms. Danny knew what he was doing, keeping Batman from getting a good look at him, but making the motion look casual. 

Danny looked over Jason’s shoulder, and saw Batman examining them. He felt exposed despite being barely visible to the man.

“I want to talk to you Hood,” Batman said with that gravelly growl. 

…

Danny watched the drama unfold before him, and stayed out of it. He couldn’t stay quiet any longer though when Batman said, “I wish I hadn’t raised a man who thinks it’s okay to kill people and let criminals go! I wish I didn’t have to know that one day I'm going to have to put you down when you go too far again!” 

“You’re a horrible father,” Danny said, doing his best to make the statement sound like a fact. Danny grabbed Red Hood's arm, and led him away, not looking back at the horrible display of cruelty he’d just witnessed. He couldn’t understand how he’d ever thought Batman was a good person. 

…

The pain lanced through Danny’s chest. He screamed, but no one cared. Hand’s rooted around inside him, prodding his already fractured core. He felt ice building in his chest, wanting to escape, but the ecto uranium prevented any release. He screamed until his throat was sore, and still he screamed. 

When it was finally over, and he was alone in his cell again, he thought about how he’d slowly fallen in love with Jason, and all the little things that he loved about him. 

...

Danny hadn’t realized that Jason and Red Hood were the same person, not at first. It wasn’t until Jason picked his lock that he started to suspect it. Most people didn’t just have a lock pick set in their apartment. And when Danny saw Red Hood pull out the same kit on one of their patrols, his suspicion only grew stronger. 

Meeting his brothers was another clue. When he first met Tim after overextending his powers using ice, he was surprised how similar he was built compared to Red Robin. He was even working on a laptop when Jason invited him into his apartment. Red Robin was well known to be a computer hacker. However, it was after his second encounter with Batman that Danny really started to suspect Red Hood was Jason. The stories he’d gotten from both just lined up. A father that didn’t accept him, brothers he was slowly starting to build a relationship with, a year away from Gotham, it all matched. 

Danny started dropping hints that he was Phantom, hoping Jason would realize and call him out on it. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure Jason was Red Hood, and he didn’t want to look like a fool. But, he was starting to fall for Jason. The guy could cook, and he was a really good listener. Danny had known he was bi for years. He’d never really talked about it with anyone other than Sam and Tucker. They both took it in stride, Sam even going so far as to point out hot guys to him. He’d never really explored his sexuality much though, as he was dating Sam when he realized he was bi. But now, he was falling for Jason, so he dropped his hints. He mentioned how he loved the stars to both Jason and Red Hood. 

Meeting Damian shortly after that only solidified Danny’s resolve that Jason was Red Hood. The kid spoke in the same strange way that Robin did, like he was a serious grammar stickler. But Danny still didn’t confront Jason. He didn’t want to be wrong, and some small part of him didn’t want to be right. He liked Jason and liked this one normal thing in his life. He didn’t want to ruin it. 

…

The next time they experimented on him, Danny shut down. His mind dove deep within itself, much like it had long ago with Jason. Danny only vaguely remembered that day. He did recall hunting down the body snatcher, and finding his dissection layer, but much of the time after that was a blank. 

He remembered Jason though. He remembered his voice, soothing him. He remembered the gentle touches, and the strong arms holding him close. Danny clung to those memories as his mind shut down, blocking out the real world. He clung to those feelings, pretending that Jason was here now, and it was all just a bad dream.

…

Laying on the hard floor of his cell, Danny remembered another time he lay on the hard ground with Jason, that night they went camping and watched the stars, after Jason had had that nightmare. 

...

Danny had woken to Jason thrashing and crying in his sleep. Realizing his boyfriend was having a nightmare, he grabbed his shoulder to shake him awake. That had been a mistake. Jason flew up and at him, pinning him to the ground. Hands clasped around Danny’s throat. He was being choked! He couldn’t breath. He clawed at the hands around his neck, Jason was on top of him, his normally blue green eyes lost in a sea of green. Danny tried to say his name, but he had no air. After a moment, Jason’s eyes turned back to normal, and it was clear he saw what he was doing. Jason threw himself away from Danny and he gasped for air. 

“Jay,” Danny tried to say, wanting to let his boyfriend know it was okay, that he didn’t blame him. But Jason threw himself out of the tent before he could catch his breath enough to say it. Danny reached for him as he fled, but he was too slow. Danny waited a moment, letting himself catch his breath. Once he could breathe easy again, he grabbed a blanket to wrap around himself, and stepped outside the tent. He slipped his shoes on and went to Jason. 

Jason was punching a tree. Danny flinched with each impact, and hurried over. He hesitantly touched the back of Jason’s shoulder. The man flinched and whirled around to look at him. Danny saw the fear and self hate in his boyfriend’s eyes, and his heart broke. 

“Jason,” he pleaded, wanting to explain that he didn’t blame him, that he understood it was an accident, but Jason fled from him again. Danny watched Jason stare into the fire pit for a moment before hunting around the camp. Danny could tell he still needed a moment, so he went and sat down by the fire pit. He watched his boyfriend throw logs into the pit, and cover them with lighter fluid. Danny scooted his chair back from the fire pit as Jason threw a match in. A huge column of flame erupted and Danny hopped Jason hadn't burned himself. 

Finally, Jason seemed to have worn himself out and sat down, his head in his hands. Danny moved over to him. He knew he had to break the silence, so he tried a different tactic. 

“I’m okay you know,” Danny said, surprising himself with how rough his voice sounded. Jason flinched so Danny continued. “You were having a nightmare and I tried to wake you.” Jason muttered something that Danny couldn’t hear. 

“Huh?” Danny asked. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason said, not looking at Danny. “I’m sorry I’m so messed up. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I keep finding your triggers,” Danny flinched, and then cursed himself for it. He knew Jason didn’t mean it when he set him off, it wasn’t Jason’s fault Danny was so fucked up. Jason continued talking. “And I’m sorry I suck at being your boyfriend.” 

“You don’t suck at being my boyfriend,” Danny assured him. He didn’t know how to prove this though. Right now, Jason clearly hated himself and what he’d done. But it had been an accident, and Danny needed to show Jason he was okay. He gently touched his boyfriend's shoulder, when he noticed the blood on his hands. He gently touched Jason’s knuckles, and the man flinched. 

“You’re bleeding,” Danny told him. Jason finally lifted his head from his hands and examined them. Danny knew it had to be from punching the tree. He was going to have to avoid it in the morning lest he see the blood on the bark. Not that blood bothered him, but something about the idea sent him shivering. 

“Will you let me fix you up?” Danny asked gently. When Jason nodded, Danny went and found the first aid kit. He brought it back and gently washed and bandaged Jason’s hands. Danny loved his boyfriends hands. They were big, and rough, but they could be so gentle. They were scared, but that just showed how much life Jason had lived. Once he was done, Danny held the larger hands in his. 

“There,” Danny said, happy.

“Thanks,” Jason muttered. Danny didn’t know what to say next, and Jason clearly didn’t. They sat in silence for a long while as Danny tried to figure out what to do. Jason didn’t look happy, he was still avoiding his eyes. Finally, Danny had an idea. 

“Let’s go for a hike,” Danny said enthused. 

“What?” Jason asked, finally meeting Danny’s eyes. That only encouraged him more. 

“Hiking,” Danny said, getting to his feet and dragging Jason with him. “Let’s grab our flashlights and walk the trail.” He noticed Jason wasn’t wearing shoes. “And put your boots on,” he added. 

Danny grabbed the flashlights and watched Jason put his socks and boots on, then he led him through the campsite, past other quiet tents. Once they were alone on the trail, Danny asked the question that had started to burn in his mind. 

“What was your nightmare about?” Danny asked, gently. 

“I don’t remember,” Jason said flatly.

“It must have been bad,” Danny said, trying to give Jason an excuse for his reaction. If it had been a truly horrible nightmare, then surely Jason couldn’t blame himself for it leaking into the waking world. Jason stopped walking. Danny took another step forward before he realized, and turned so he was facing Jason, but didn’t dare let go of his hand. 

“What?” Danny asked, worry creeping into his gut.

“Will you stop pretending that I didn’t just almost kill you?” Jason said, his voice a little hysterical. 

“Jay,” Danny tried, but Jason bowled him over and kept talking. 

“Look at your neck Danny! How are you going to hide that? How can you just ignore what I did?” Jason’s voice was cracking. 

“Jason,” Danny tried again, desperately trying to stop the tirade of self hate he knew was coming. 

“I’m dangerous, and I hurt you,” Jason said, tears streaming down his face as he fell to his knees. Danny’s heart clenched, and his tight grip on Jason dragged him to the ground too. 

“Why are you just okay with this?” Jason sobbed. Danny pulled Jason to his chest, his heart breaking. He held Jason close as he cried. 

“It’s not your fault love,” Danny said. “Next time I’ll throw a pillow at you or something, okay?” Danny didn’t like to see Jason like this, but at least he wasn’t bottling up his emotions any more. Danny knew he would feel better when he let them out. 

…

Danny touched his face and found the tears there. He was crying at the memory, it was too painful. Instead, he thought about the night his secret had come out. 

...

Danny had felt the bullets hit him in that abandoned office building, but hadn’t thought the wounds were that bad. Normally, his ghostly healing would have taken care of it. But he’d overextended his powers making a shield, and then using so much ice, that the healing hadn’t taken effect. And when he turned back to human at his apartment, the blood wouldn’t stop flowing. In his panic, he’d called Jason instead of 911. He was still careful, in case Jason wasn’t Red Hood. He’d used codes, but he’d been right, and Jason had come. 

Danny didn't really remember Jason coming, only that he had, and that he’d been there when he woke up. After that, things were different. Danny had been worried he’d lose the one piece of normal he had when he found out Jason was The Red Hood, but that hadn't happened. Instead, he’d just gotten closer to his boyfriend. Everything was wonderful. Even after Harley had blown up their apartments, things were great. Danny was the happiest he’d been in years. He had a family again, a strange, crazy, somewhat broken family, but it was still a family. And it was all his. But of course, Danny couldn’t have that for ever. 

…

Danny lay on the harsh metal table, his limbs strapped down, and a tube shoved down his throat. His head was strapped down as they cut into this throat. He knew what they were doing. They were trying to finish what they’d started last time when they tried to disable his ghostly wail. Danny knew they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. 

…

He lay on the floor of his cell, trying to eat the meager food they brought him, but every swallow hurt. He tried to hum, to speak, to make any noise, but he couldn't. They’d completely destroyed his ability to make any noise. Danny sobbed, but the action only further strained his damaged throat, so he tried to make himself stop. He curled into a ball, pushing the food away, and tried to sleep. 

…

Danny woke to the sound of his cell door opening, and scrambled back. ‘ _ No more _ ,’ he thought. ‘ _ I can’t take it anymore! _ ’ He closed his eyes and wished Jason would find him soon. He couldn’t take much more of this. He could feel himself losing strength and hope every day. He didn’t know how much longer he had before he started to look for another way out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry, I couldn't help myself. If there are any other scenes you want to see from Danny’s perspective, let me know, I’ll try to work it into a latter flashback scene.


	14. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. More information is at the end of the chapter, enjoy.

Jason’s brothers insisted he go back to his house to get a change of clothes and pick up Cujo. It was the thought of the dog, alone and scared, that finally convinced him to leave the cave, and by extension, the search. They’d been scouring databases and the internet all day, but hadn’t come up with anything. They’d even talked to Superman to get his side of the story, but he didn’t know much. The man of steel had explained that the government had contacted the Justice League about an escaped meta-human in Gotham, and he in turn had contacted Batman. It was a dead end. 

Jason pulled into his driveway and was immediately on edge. There was a car parked there that he didn’t recognize. He quietly turned off his bike, and pulled his gun from where it was tucked into his waistband. He reached for the front door’s handle, and found it unlocked. That wasn’t good. Every instinct was telling him to expect a fight. He turned the safety on his gun off, and slowly opened the door. He nearly shot the figure sitting at the base of the stairs, before he saw Cujo wagging happily in their lap. 

“Where’s Danny?” Valerie asked coldly, glaring at him. She noticed the gun and Jason quickly put it away and shut the door. 

“How did you get in?” he asked. Valerie let the over excited pup go, and he jumped around at Jason’s feet, begging to be picked up. Jason obliged, and held the squirming little bean while trying not to get his face licked. 

“Danny gave me a key,” Valerie said simply. “In case you two went missing and couldn’t watch Cujo.”

“Why would we go missing?” Jason asked, trying to keep the edge out his voice. 

“Because Danny is Phantom and you are Red Hood,” Valerie glared at him. Jason nearly dropped the dog in surprise. Instead, he took a breath and gently set him on the floor. 

“I need a drink,” Jason said, and gestured for Valerie to follow him into the kitchen. She sat down at the small table while Jason pulled a bottle of rum out of the cabinet. He poured himself a glass and downed it in one go, not exactly how you were supposed to drink, rum, but he needed to feel numb fast. 

“How did you figure it out,” Jason asked,leaning against the counter. He’d poured himself a second glass and was sipping this one slowly, waiting for the effects of the alcohol to hit his blood stream. 

“I knew both Danny and Phantom back when he lived in Amity Park,” Valerie explained. “I didn’t realize they were the same person at the time. But, when Danny disappeared, and everyone thought he was dead, Phantom disappeared as well. I still didn’t make the connection though. I thought it was because the portal was destroyed and that’s why Phantom stopped showing up. All the other ghosts that plagued the town disappeared too. But then, Phantom showed up in Gotham.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at her, and she snorted. 

“I’m a criminal psych major, I keep track of active vigilantes,” she explained. “I noticed that this Phantom was the same one as the old one, if weaker. And then I saw Danny,” she paused then, looking at her folded hands. “I finally put it together; they had to be the same person. Danny gave me his phone number that day at the coffee shop, and I called and confronted him about it. He admitted to everything, and it wasn’t too much effort to figure out your secret identity too.” 

Jason grunted. “That’s pretty clever,” he admitted. He was finally starting to feel a light buzz from the alcohol, and felt a bit of the tension drain out of his body. Valerie let out a humorless laugh. 

“Yeah, well. Danny gave me a key to your house after he got Cujo, that way, in case you two ever disappeared, someone would be around to take care of the dog. And when Danny never messaged me that he made it home from his patrol, I came over to see what was going on.” She paused for a moment before asking in a grave tone, “He’s missing, isn’t he?” 

“Yes,” Jason breathed out. It was a lot to absorb at once, that Danny had let Valerie into his life like this, and Jason hadn’t known. He didn’t know why Danny didn’t tell him, but he wasn’t mad. He didn’t have the energy or heart to be mad at Danny right now. Instead, he just hoped that maybe Valerie could help, since she’d known Phantom before. 

“He got taken by the GIW,” Jason explained and Valerie flinched, her hand flying over her mouth. She was clearly familiar with them. 

“How?” Valerie asked, the question an exhale.

“Batman handed him over,” Jason growled through clenched teeth. 

“What?!” Valerie exclaimed, standing up from her chair so fast it fell over with a crash. Cujo tucked his tail between his legs and ran from the room. 

“Yeah,” Jason breathed out. “The government told him Phantom was dangerous, so he captured him and handed him over.”

“He just believed them?!” she exclaimed, voice frantic. Hearing those words, the same question that had been bouncing around in Jason’s own head for hours, cut the final string holding Jason together. He sank to the floor, back against the counter, and put his head in his hands. Valerie crouched down in front of him and gently pried his hands away from his face.

“Let me help,” Valerie insisted, squeezing his hands. 

“How?” Jason asked, his voice raw.

“I used to hunt ghosts actually,” Valerie said sheepishly, looking away from his face. “In fact, I spent a lot of time hunting Phantom. I know a thing or two about the GIW as well.” 

“Thanks,” he sighed, his relief genuine.

“So what's the plan?” she asked, rising to her feet, ready to go. 

“The plan is we find Harley and learn where she got those anti ghost weapons,” Jason explained, using the edge of the counter to drag himself to his feet. “If we can find her contact, maybe we can find Danny.” 

“I’m coming with you,” she declared. 

“Can you hold your own in a fight?” he asked. 

“Can you?” she countered, eyeing his cast. He tucked the arm against his chest.

“I’ll manage,” he muttered. 

“Do the rest of the bats know you’re going to do this?” she gave him a disapproving look. 

“No,” he admitted. “But they would try to stop me if they did. And they probably wouldn’t be able to find her anyway!” his voice rose as Valerie continued to glare at him. “I need to be the bait to lure her out,” he insisted.

“One of the other bats could wear your gear,” she suggested. “You’re no good to Danny dead.” That did it for Jason, he felt his temper snap and stomped away.

“Where are you going?” she yelled after him. 

“To call some friends!” he shouted back. 

…

“What do you mean you’re off world!?” Jason demanded into his phone, his voice frantic. 

“I mean we’re thousands of light years from earth,” Roy Harper clarified from the other end of the line. “Kori got wind of this slave trafficking group out here and we’re in the middle of stopping it. We could start heading back your way, but it would take a week to get back.” 

Jason groaned and put his head in his hands. He was sitting on the edge of his bed. The bedroom door creaked open and Valerie leaned against the door frame, a question in her eyes. Jason ignored her. 

“Jay?” Roy asked, when Jason hadn’t said anything for a while. 

“Still here,” Jason muttered. 

“Do you want us to come back?” Roy asked. 

“It probably wouldn’t do any good,” Jason admitted. “By the time you get back, we’ll probably have already found him. And it sounds like there are more people out there who need you.” Jason knew finding Danny in a week was optimistic, but he didn’t want to pull his friends away from such an important job. He would forever feel guilty if, by the time they got back to earth, he’d already found Danny, and then they would have to turn around and go back, losing two weeks over nothing. Freeing slaves was too important. 

“Okay,” Roy said, sounding unsure. “Good luck Jason,” he offered. 

“You too, bye,” Jason said, hanging up the phone before he could hear his friend's response. He dropped the phone on the bed and put his head in his hands. Valerie came over then, and Jason thought she was going to try and comfort him, but instead she grabbed his phone from where he’d left it. 

“Hey!” he swiped for it, but she took several steps back. “What are you doing?” he demanded, rising to his feet. 

“Calling your brothers,” she said, tapping on the screen. He hadn’t locked the damn thing when he set it down. 

“How do you know I have brothers?” he asked, trying to sound unconcerned. 

“Danny told me. They’re the other bats,” she explained, while scrolling the contacts. 

“Ugh, is there anything he didn’t tell you?”Jason groaned, putting his head in his hands. 

“No,” she said simply, and put the phone to her ear. Jason growled. 

“Give it,” he demanded, lunging for her. She easily side stepped him and Jason was shocked, the alcohol must be affecting him more than he thought. That, or his grief was. . He lunged for her again, but she kicked him in the gut. She hadn’t telegraphed the move at all. He had to admit she was good. But Jason didn’t have much time to think about it as he doubled over, coughing. 

“Yeah, this is Jason’s brother right?” Valerie said into the phone. Jason couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation so he didn’t know who she had called. 

“Yeah, this is Valerie, we met at the coffee shop.” So it was Tim she’d called. “Danny told me about all of your secret identities, so I figured I should call to let you know Jason is about to be a reckless dumb ass and face Harley without telling you.” 

Jason could hear the outrage on the other end of the line, though the worlds were lost. 

“Yeah,” Valerie sighed. “So you better get over here and stop him. I’ll keep him here as long as I can.” She hung up the phone and tossed it into Jason’s lap where he sat on the floor. 

“You suck,” Jason wheezed. 

“If you died trying to save Danny, he’d kill me,” Valerie crossed her arms and glared at him. He glared right back, but didn’t get up off the floor. 

“When did you last sleep?” Valerie asked after a moment of silence. Jason screwed up his face in thought. 

“More than 24 hours ago,” he shrugged. He’d gone a lot longer without sleep, but Valerie sighed. 

“You won’t do anyone any good if you’re tired,” she rubbed the bridge of her nose. 

“I am not tired,” Jason said, finally getting to his feet. He swayed, and Valerie glared at him even more. She was really good at glaring. 

“At least get a few hours,” she begged. 

“I’ll be fine,” he muttered and shoved past her. He was annoyed that she’d snitched on him to his brothers, but he knew she was right. He was in no condition to be running around Gotham fighting Harley, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it if he had to. 

…

It wasn’t just Tim that showed up, but all three of his brothers, along with Steph and Cass. They all got introduced to Valerie, and a very excited Cujo, and gathered in the living room to hear Tim lay out the plan. 

“First we are going to get some sleep,” he declared, and everyone groaned. “I know, I know. But we’ve all been up since this time yesterday. We need to be rested for tonight.”

“We’re going after Harley,” Jason said, daring anyone to disagree, but Tim nodded. 

“Yes. We’re going after Harley. We’ll leave from here, everyone brought their gear,” he nodded to the pile of duffel bags in the corner that Cujo was sniffing with enthusiasm. 

“How are we going to lure her out?” Steph asked. 

“Jason is going to be the bait,” Valerie grinned. Everyone turned with shocked expressions to Jason, who was sitting on the arm of the couch next to Valerie. 

“Absolutely not!” Dick exclaimed. “You just re-broke your arm. And you haven’t fully healed from the last two encounters with her. You are in no shape to be playing bait, “he said with an older brother glare.

“You got a better idea?” Jason demanded, his anger bubbling. “It’s not like I’ll be totally exposed. You will all be watching my back, and will jump in the moment she shows her face,” he explained. 

“It’s not a bad idea,” Tim admitted thoughtfully. 

“Are you serious?” Dick demanded, looking at Tim with what Jason thought might be hurt in his eyes. 

“He’ll be perfectly safe with all of us on the sidelines,” Tim argued. 

“I don’t think you can all be there though,” Valerie cut in. Everyone turned to her. “Harley isn’t dumb. She’s only attacked Jason when it was just him and Danny alone. If you guys aren’t visibly in Gotham somewhere away from Jason’s location, I don’t think she’ll show up.”

“So you’re saying we can’t back Jason up?” Dick asked. “In that case, there is no way he is playing bait.”   
  


“Well,” Tim started. “Dick, Damian, and I can’t back Jason up. Valerie is right, we need to be somewhere visibly out of the way,” he then paused for a moment, a clever gleam in his eyes. “But Steph and Cass aren’t normally in Gotham. They can back Jason up.” 

“I’ll happily kick that bitch’s butt,” Stephanie grinned, pounding her fist into her other palm. Cass nodded sagely. 

“Fine,” Dick threw up his hands in surrender. “We’ll try the Jason plays bait plan. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” 

They worked out the rest of the plan together, before Jason handed out blankets and everyone passed out on top of each other in the living room. Tomorrow, they’d get Danny back for sure. 

…

“Is everyone in position?” Jason asked over the coms. Everyone sounded off, affirming that they were where they needed to be. Robin, Red Robin, and Nightwing were all as far from the Narrows as they could get, loudly flinging themselves off rooftops and doing their best to catch as much attention as possible without seeming too suspicious. Jason was standing on the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the Narrows, purposely out of the way of civilians. Batgirl and Black Bat were hidden a few rooftops over, waiting. 

“Okay Jason,” Oracle said over the coms. “Everyone’s ready. I’m sending the text now.” 

The plan was simple. Send every phone in Gotham a text telling Harley to meet Jason on this rooftop. It was coded of course, but in a code the Joker regularly used. They were counting on the fact that Harley had a doctorate and was smart. Plus, she’d been the Joker’s right hand, she had to know the codes he used. 

...

An hour later, their gamble paid off. 

“Well, well, well,” Harley cooed as she made her entrance, her hyenas at her sides. “Where’s your boy toy?” she asked, her smile sickly sweet. 

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Jason growled. Harley’s grin only widened. The desire to lunge right then boiled in Jason’s chest, but he held himself back. He could see the girls getting into position behind Harley. He had to buy them another moment. 

“Oh? Did the twink run off?” Harley cooed. “Find someone more interesting to play with? Or did Daddy dearest disapprove?” 

Jason’s anger surged, and he saw green. He lunged, a roar escaping his throat, but the Hyenas attacked first. One got its jaws around his cast and clamped down. Jason bit back a scream as his broken bones ground against each other. But his distraction worked. A moment later, the Hyena went limp, a tranquilizer dart stuck in his neck. Jason shoved it off, and found the other Hyena similarly incapacitated. Batgirl and Black Bat had Harley bound up at their feet, her arms behind her back. 

“You brats! You cheated!” she screamed. “And you’ve hurt my babies!” 

“The hyenas are fine,” Batgirl assured her. “They’ll be taken to the zoo in the morning. As for you?,” she crouched down so she was on Harley’s level. “You are going to tell us how to find the GIW.” 

“Oh, is that all,” Harley drawled. “That’s an easy one. You don’t.” Batgirl frowned and Harley cackled. 

“You will tell us,” Jason growled, planting his feet and drawing a gun. He pointed it at the woman’s head.. 

“But that’s the thing, I don’t know how,” Harley said, sticking her lip out and pouting. 

“But you had their weapons,” Jason stated, raising an eyebrow under the hood. 

“Well yeah,” Harley said casually. “I have their number, but not their location.” 

“Then give us that,” Batgirl ordered. 

“If all you wanted was a number, I would have happily given you mine,” she cooed, looking Jason up and down with a sultry expression. Jason growled deep in his chest. He couldn’t wait till this crazy clown was behind bars.

  
  


…

“It’s a dead end,” Tim declared later as they all sprawled in Jason’s living room latter. Jason sat back and groaned. 

“Why?” he asked, tired. 

“This number,” Tim explained. “It just goes to a burner phone. I can’t use it to find them.” 

“Dammit!” Jason swore as he pounded a fist on the coffee table. Everyone jumped at the show of anger.

“Now what?” Valerie asked. 

“I’ll try to hack into their system again,” Tim said, fingers flying over his keyboard. “See if there’s anything I haven’t tried.” Tim was only working for a few minutes before his screen turned to static. 

“What the…” he started before the TV on the wall turned on, the same static lighting up the screen. The handful of the phones on the coffee table also turned on to the same static. Then a nasally, clearly male voice blared loudly through every speaker in the room. 

“I think we might be able to help each other,” the voice said. Then out of nowhere a face appeared on the screens, replacing the static. The man that had appeared had glowing green skin with black sunglasses obscuring his eyes, and hair as white as snow. His teeth were bared in a grin. 

“Who are you,” Jason asked, his voice low and dangerous. 

“I am Technus! Ghost master of all electrical technology!” he declared. “One of you has been trying to break into the GIW’s servers for a while now. Who is it?!” No one answered. Jason glared at Tim’s laptop, assuming the ghost was looking through it’s webcam. 

“Well?!” Technus asked, clearly annoyed, crossing his arms against his chest . “Who is the great hacker who has nearly broken through my firewalls a dozen times now?!” 

“ _ Your _ firewall?” Tim asked, as though he couldn’t help it. 

“Tim,” Dick growled under his breath. 

“What a minute,” Valerie inturptes. “You’re one of the Ghost’s Phantom used to fight.” 

“That is correct!,” Technus confirmed. “I did fight the ghost child on several occasions,” he said proudly. But his enthusiasm did not last long. His face fell as he said, “But now, he is back in the hands of the GIW, as am I.”

“You’re a prisoner?” Tim asked. 

“Yes,” Techuns sighed sadly. “They’ve been forcing me to act as their digital security for years now. But I have other things I’d rather be doing. Like not acting as their digital security!” he said with an enraged voice.

“What do you want from us?” Jason asked, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. This guy knew that the GIW had Danny. Maybe he knew where. Jason would do whatever he had to do to get his boyfriend back. 

“I want to make a deal with you,” Techus explained. 

“What kind of deal?” Damian asked, butting in for the first time. 

“A deal you can’t refuse!” the ghost exclaimed. 

“Technus,” Valerie said, a warning in her voice. “If you know where Phantom is...”

“I do!” Technus exclaimed, interrupting her. “That’s part of my deal. I’ll tell you where the GIW’s base is, if you agree to free me when you come for the ghost boy!” 

“That’s it?” Jason asked. This seemed too easy. 

“Yes!” Technus said, exasperated. “I want myself and Phantom out of here as much as you do. Phantom may be a nuisance, but we ghosts owe him a lot. Now, do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” Jason said, before he had the opportunity to second guess himself. 

“Excellent,” Technus said. “In that case, here’s a back door to all the GIW’s systems!” And with that, the TV and phone screens shut off, and Technus’ face disappeared from the laptop. In his place, was an icon of a door. Tim hesitantly clicked on it. 

…

…

Danny woke to the sound of his cell door opening, and scrambled back. ‘ _ No more _ ,’ he thought. ‘ _ I can’t take it anymore! _ ’ He closed his eyes and wished Jason would find him soon. 

A hand touched his shoulder and Danny opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. 

“Danny,” a voice hissed in his ear, a familiar voice, a comforting voice. Danny opened his eyes and found himself staring into the white lenses of Jason’s domino mask. 

‘ _ Jay? _ ’ he mouthed the question. Jason frowned at him. 

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Jason urged, and scooped Danny up, holding him tight to his chest. Danny clung to Jason’s leather jacket, burying his head against the strong chest, and cried.

…

…

Jason held his boyfriend to his chest as he bolted for the exit. He could hear fighting and chaos around him as the rest of the bats invaded the bass and arrested the scientists. They’d gotten league permission to do so, but only after a shouting match with Superman. Batman had wisely avoided that meeting. 

Jason was very worried about Danny. When he’d found the cell they’d been keeping him in, it was covered in blood and ectoplasm. Danny himself wasn’t much better. He didn’t seem to be able to make any noise. Jason had seen him try to scream, but no noise had come from his mouth. It was hard to tell past the blood and inhibitor collar, but it looked like his throat might have been slit. Jason felt his rage boiling, like a pot left too long, but he couldn’t afford to lose his temper now. He had Danny, and he was going to do whatever he had to keep him safe. No one was ever going to hurt his boyfriend again, not even if Jason had to kill the Bat to ensure it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for waiting. What was supposed to only be a few weeks off to recover from burnout, ended up being months when a lot of things happened. I won’t bother you with the shitty stuff, but I came out as non-binary! And I got a kitten. So those are good things. I don’t know how often this story will update from here on out, we’ll just play it by ear, but I have no intention of abandoning it. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of the chapter. I’m not perfectly happy with it, but I wanted to get it out you ya’ll, and I don’t know if I’d ever be perfectly happy with it, it was a hard chapter to write! We’ll really be entering phase two of the story in the next chapter though.


	15. A Fresh Start

Jason pulled his car up to the front of the manor and put the brake on. He climbed out, and made his way to the steps where three figures stood, waiting. Damian turned to Alfred and said his goodbyes as Jason made his way over; he only caught the end of the conversation. 

“I assure you Master Damian, I will visit regularly to cook meals for you,” Alfred assured and Damian nodded, satisfied. Then Damian turned to Bruce, who knelt and opened his arms as though to hug the boy. 

“Goodbye father,” Damian said stiffly, picked up one of his bags, and turned away. Jason grinned smugly as the man awkwardly stood. 

“You ready to go demon brat?” Jason asked, ruffling his brother's hair. Damian swatted him away. 

“Help me carry my things, Todd,” Damian ordered, and Jason obliged, swinging a duffel over his shoulder that he was pretty sure contained the kids Robin gear. 

“Come Titus,” Damian said, as he lifted his bags and marched stiffly to the waiting car, his dog on his heels. 

“Take care of him Master Jason,” Alfred said gently. 

“I will Alfi,” Jason assured, and headed for the car before the kid tried to drive off in it by himself. 

Bags safely stowed in the trunk, a huge great Dane in the back seat, and his little brother in the passenger seat, Jason pulled away from the manor. He watched in the rearview mirror as Bruce and Alfred solemnly made their way back inside. 

“You still sure about this?” Jason asked, glancing at the boy hunched beside him. Damian had pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, as though trying to be as small as possible. 

“I am sure,” Damian confirmed. “I can no longer trust father’s judgment and thus think it best if I am not around him.” Jason understood what the kid was thinking. If Bruce could turn on a kid who hadn’t actually done anything wrong, what might he do to a kid who  _ had  _ killed people, even if he hadn’t done so in a while. Jason wished he could assure his brother that Bruce would never hurt him, but the scar at Jason’s throat would call him out on the lie. 

“Well, my place isn’t as grand as the manor,” Jason said to fill the silence. “And my yard isn’t as big; you’re going to have to take Titus for a run every day to get his energy out.” 

“I am aware,” Damian said. “I will take Cujo too if you would like, as your time will be filled taking care of Danny.” The reminder hit Jason in the gut. Danny had been at Dr. Tompkins clinic for a week before he was allowed to go home, and the damage the GIW had managed to wreak in the 10 days they had him was astounding. His back was in ribbons, and his right wrist had been broken. The most traumatic damage though was to his throat. They’d finished what they’d started last time and now, Danny couldn’t utter a sound. He hadn’t really been lucid enough yet to find this distressing, but they were expecting it any day now. Jason had already informed Dinah that her services would be required. 

“Why did father not trust us?” Damian asked, jolting Jason out of his thoughts. 

“What?” Jason asked, not understanding the question. 

“He captured Danny, despite all of us being friends with him. Why did he not trust us to be accurate judges of his character?” Damian clarified. 

“I don’t know Dami,” Jason sighed. “Once Bruce get’s something into his head, it takes a hell of a lot to change his mind.” 

“I thought he trusted me,” Damian mumbled, almost too soft to hear. 

“I’m sorry he broke your trust,” Jason said, and they rode the rest of the way to the house in silence. 

…

“Good morning, Dami,” Jason greeted as Damian entered the kitchen, already awake and dressed for school. 

“Good morning, To… Jason,” Damian corrected. Jason wasn’t sure why, but since Damian had come to live with him, he’d been making an effort to use Jason’s first name. “What have you prepared for breakfast?” the kid asked. 

“Omelets,” Jason answered, mixing the eggs in his bowl. “You know school isn’t for another hour and a half, you don’t have to be ready to go the moment you come downstairs,” he added, noting the school bag Damian had left at the base of the stairs. It was a habit the kid had, and Jason was just now, after two weeks, addressing it.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Damian asked, looking like he didn’t understand the question. 

“Because you’re 12?” Jason tried, but his brother’s expression remained blank. “Never mind,” he decided, letting the conversation drop. Jason went back to his cooking and Damian sat at the counter, picking at the bowl of grapes. Jason was scrambling for something to break the silence when Damian said, “I have an ice hockey game this weekend.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you played,” Jason turned back to his little brother, startled. Damian just shrugged. 

“We never really talked about it. And father didn’t want you to know,” he admitted after a moment. 

“Ah,” Jason said, understanding. He and Danny hadn’t been welcome. And the kid probably hadn’t mentioned his practice after school out of habit.

“Will you and Danny come?” Damian asked, and Jason was surprised to hear a sort of wariness in the kid’s voice, like he desperately wanted them to, but wasn’t going to get his hopes up lest he be disappointed. 

“I’ll be there kid,” Jason assured. “I can’t promise Danny yet. I still can barely get him out of the house to go to therapy with Dinah.” Damian hummed in understanding. 

“How is he doing today?” Damian asked after another moment of silence. 

“He’s still asleep,” Jason admitted. “Leslie said to let him sleep as much as he wants till he’s healed.”

“He’s not healing as fast as he should,” Damian said, it wasn’t a question. 

“No,” Jason sighed. “It’s been three weeks, and by all past accounts, he should be back on his feet by now. But his healing factor doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Tim was saying his core might have been damaged,” Damian admitted. 

“Yeah, he told me that too,” Jason agreed. 

“Is that all it is?” Damian asked. 

“I don’t know kiddo,” Jason sighed. “I hope so. Otherwise he seems mostly fine. He, well, he doesn’t talk, but we have conversations.”

“Have you suggested sign language?” Damian asked. “Father had all of us learn it. I could offer to teach it to him.” 

“Yeah, I did,” Jason said, setting a plate of food in front of Damian. “But he’s not ready yet. I don’t think it’s really set in that this might be permanent you know? I think he’s still hoping his healing factor might kick in and he’ll get better. Writing stuff down works well enough for now, but…”

“But what about when he goes back on patrol,” Damian finished for him, knowing where a vigilante’s mind went. 

“Yeah,” Jason sighed. “He still hasn’t tried to use his powers yet, thank god. Leslie says he shouldn’t till he’s fully healed, but, you and I both know it’s hard to stay out of the field for that long.” 

“You should insist he learn,” Damian said between bites of food. “Perhaps you could frame it as something that might be useful on a mission some day.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Jason pondered. “Okay, eat your food and feed the dogs. I’m going to feed Casper.” Jason grabbed the other two plates of food and headed for the stairs. 

When he opened the door to his and Danny’s room, both Titus and Cujo, who had become fast friends, bolted around his feet and down the stairs for their breakfast. Both dogs had taken it upon themselves to protect Danny whenever Jason wasn’t there, as though they knew the fragile state the halfa was in. 

“Danny, you up?” Jason asked, flicking on the light. A pillow came flying at his head and Jason barely managed to keep from dropping the food. 

“Hey, I brought you food. Don’t throw things at me,” Jason complained. Danny sat up and glared at him, shielding his eyes from the light and hissing like a cat, a noise you surprisingly don’t need your vocal cords to make. Danny was quickly finding any way he could make noise, and hissing was fast becoming his favorite way to show displeasure. 

“Oh shut up you angry cat,” Jason teased as he sat on the bed. He handed a plate and fork to Danny, who awkwardly balanced the food on his knee and tried to use his left hand to eat, his right wrist still bound up in a cast. He was getting better at using his non-dominant hand. 

“Damian wants us to go to his hockey game this weekend,” Jason said between bites. Danny tilted his head, questioning. 

“Yeah, I know,” Jason scoffed. “Bruce didn’t want us to know he played.” Danny huffed in disbelief.

“Will you come with me?” Jason asked. Danny frowned at him. He set his fork down and made a grabbing motion toward the side table that Jason was next to. Jason knew what he wanted and handed him the pen and notepad that was sitting there. Danny snatched it and quickly started scribbling, his left handed writing nearly illegible but Jason managed to read the words: _ I don’t know. We’ll see. My back hurts. _

“It’s not for a few days,” Jason said. “And are your pain meds not working?” Danny scrunched up his face and Jason sighed deeply. 

“Danny, you’re supposed to tell me when they stopped working,” he groaned. 

_ Meds don’t work on me,  _ Danny scribbled. 

“Danny, the League is used to metas,” Jason sighed. “They could figure out something that will work on you.” Danny shook his head. 

“You wouldn’t have to go to a hospital,” Jason said, still exasperated. “They could come here.” Danny shook his head harder. “Or we could go to the WatchTower. You already go there for therapy.” Danny shoveled more food into his mouth. 

“Why won’t you let them find meds for you?” Jason finally asked, near the end of his rope. Danny angrily set his plate down and picked up the notepad. _ I don’t want them taking my blood.  _

“They aren’t going to do anything evil with it,” Jason assured. 

_ Someone else could steal it. _

“Danny, the WatchTower is one of the most secure places in the world,” Jason groaned. “In fact, it’s not even on this world, so that probably makes it even more secure. No one is going to get your blood. Pluss, what are you even worried about them doing with it?” 

_ Cloning.  _

“Oh,” Jason said, stunned. “Yeah, that’s actually probably a very real concern,” he admitted. Danny rolled his eyes and finished his food. 

“Do you want to come with me to drop Damian off at school?” Jason asked. “It’ll save me the trip back here to pick you up for therapy.” Danny sighed and flopped over till he was leaving his full weight against Jason’s side. Jason wrapped an arm around him, careful of his back, and kissed the top of his head. 

“You’re going to be okay love,” Jason whispered. 

“Jason!” Damian called from downstairs. “If you don’t move your ass I’m going to be late for school!”

“I swear, teaching that kid to curse was a mistake,” Jason muttered. Danny huffed in a way that Jason had learned was a laugh. Hearing what had once been a noise that sent Jason’s heart fluttering stripped of its joyous sound nearly broke something inside him, but he powered through the moment and went about getting dressed. 

...

  
  


“Have a good day Damian!” Jason called as the kid scrambled out of the car in front of the school. Danny, who was sitting in the passenger seat waved. Damian waved back before turning to a boy waiting for him and walking into the building. Jason was glad to see even the demon brat had managed to make a friend. Jason was interrupted from watching his brother by a tug on his shirt sleeve. 

“Yeah?” Jason asked, turning to Danny, who held up a phone. It was open to a notes app, and the words,  _ ‘Burgers after therapy?’ _ and been written on it. 

“Hell yeah,” Jason agreed to the request, and pulled away from the school to let other parents drop off their kids. 

…

Jason thought the therapy was going well, he didn’t know what they talked about and neither party would tell him, but Danny always seemed a little lighter when he came out. Tired, but lighter. 

They went for burgers afterward, parking outside one of Jason’s favorite dinners. Danny wasn’t up for going inside, so Jason left the car running and went in himself. He ordered the food and stood off to the side to wait. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID. He immediately answered it. 

“Jay!” Roy greeted enthusiastically. 

“Hey man,” Jason greeted back. “What’s up?”

“Me and Kori just planted feet back on earth,” Roy explained. “Figured I’d give you a call, since, you know, you NEVER CALLED US BACK!” he yelled into the phone and Jason had to pull it away from his ear. 

“Shit, sorry,” Jason cursed. “It’s been a busy month.” 

“So I hear,” Roy said, his tone gentler. “Kori said that Dick said you found your boy?” 

“Yeah, we found Danny,” Jason confirmed. 

“Good, good, how is he?” Roy asked. Jason leaned his head against the window, looking down the street toward his car where he could just make out Danny sitting with his feet up on the dash, head bobbing to whatever music was playing. 

“He’s doing better,” Jason decided. “He’s also been better, but he’s doing better. Still can’t handle crowds yet. Not that he was really one for them before.”

“I know the feeling,” Roy sighed. 

“When can we meet him!” Kori yelled from somewhere near Roy. 

“Damn Kori,” Roy complained. “Don’t blow my eardrums out. But yeah man, when can we meet your boyfriend?”

“I’ll have to ask him,” Jason said, unsure. “I don’t want to dump new people on him if he isn’t ready, you know?” 

“We know,” Roy confirmed. “Talk to him and let us know. And call me back, okay?”

“I will,” Jason confirmed. The woman behind the counter waved him down, signaling that his food was ready. “Hey, I gotta go. My food is ready.” 

“Cool, cool. Call me!” Roy ordered. 

“I will, bye,” Jason said, hanging up before Roy could say it back, as was tradition. 

…

Jason whooped and hollered along with the rest of the crowd, encouraging Damian’s team to victory. Danny sat beside him, stamping his feet when appropriate. Gotham took all sports seriously, no matter the kind or skill of the players. Though, Jason was not at all surprised to find that Damian was extremely skilled. He wasn’t the best, the ice seemed to give him trouble, and having grown up in the desert Jason could understand that. But his hand eye coordination, stamina, and aggressiveness on the ice were unmatched. 

When the game was over, with a landslide victory to Damian’s team, Jason quickly leapt out of the stands with Danny in tow to congratulate his brother. 

“Congratulations little bro,” Jason said, ruffling the kid’s hair, which he would have regretted if he hadn’t been wearing mittens, the kid had worked up a sweat. Danny offered Damian a high five, which the kid accepted. Danny didn’t wear mittens, or anything more than a light sweater. Apparently it was a ghost thing. Ice core, or something. 

“You wanna get ice cream?” Jason asked. 

“Sure,” Damian said, but he seemed distracted, eyes scanning the crowds and stands as though looking for something. Jason’s heart panged when he realized what, or rather, who, the kid was looking for. 

“He didn’t come, kiddo,” Jason said gently. Damian scoffed. 

“I was not looking for f _ ather _ ,” he spat the word, like that would make it hurt less. Jason knew it wouldn’t. “I was looking for Dick!” he lied. 

“He had work,” Jason reminded him. “And Tim is out on a mission with the Titans, now that he’s healed.” 

“I was just checking,” Damian said, sticking to his story. “You know how Dick loves surprises.” 

“Come on,” Jason encouraged, changing the subject. “Go get dressed and we’ll get ice cream.”

“I’ll only be a few minutes,” Damian said, before he marched away, stiff backed. Danny pulled on his sleeve and handed him his phone. 

_ He was looking for Bruce, wasn’t he.  _

“Yeah,” Jason sighed. “I think he was.”

…

Jason stepped out into the back yard for a smoke break. The whole gang had piled into his house for Sunday dinner. Alfred had shown up to cook, Jason insisted he help as it was his house, and now the whole crew had invaded his living room with Smash Brothers and were busy virtually kicking eachother’s asses. Jason had been having a good time, but he needed a second to breath. He was overjoyed to see Danny really smile for the first time since they’d rescued him though, and was already making plans to have this be a regular thing. 

He sighed as he took a deep breath of smoke and sat down on one of the lawn chairs near the unused fire pit. He was hoping to have fires out here when the weather warmed up a bit, but he had to get some better chairs first. The plastic thing he was sitting on was temporary. 

Cujo came out the dog door and sniffed around the yard for a bit. The little pit was growing fast, and could already keep up with Damian and Titus on their runs. Suddenly, Cujo faced the fence and the hackles on his back went up. He growled low and Jason stood to look over the fence. 

On two sides of the fence were the yards of the neighboring houses, but that’s not where Cujo was looking. He was facing the back of the fence, where there was nothing but an empty lot. Jason squinted into the dark, he could just barely see over the tall fence, and just made out the shape of a man, a familiar silhouette. He let out a deep sigh, and headed for the back gate, patting the dog on the way and assuring him that he was okay. He slipped through the gate as quietly as he could, and latched it behind him. He stubbed his cigarette out on the wood before crossing his arms.

“What do you want, Bruce?” Jason asked darkly. The man was dressed in dark jeans and a simple black coat, not something that Jason had ever seen him in, but clearly meant to blend into the middle class neighborhood. The man didn’t say anything for a moment, and Jason glanced back over the fence. There wasn’t a window into the backyard from the living room, but if anyone came into the kitchen for more snacks, they might see two figures on the other side of the fence and come to investigate. 

“Let’s walk,” Jason said, and marched across the empty lot and toward the street. Bruce followed. Once they were a safe distance from the house, Jason asked again, “Why are you here?” 

“I was just checking,” Bruce grumbled. 

“Checking what?” Jason asked, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other so he didn’t put his fist through the man’s head. 

“On all of you,” Bruce said. “Damian,” he finally clarified. “Is he doing well?” 

“Kid’s fine,” Jason confirmed. “He won his game. Not that you wouldn’t know that since you weren’t there.”

“I knew he won,” Bruce said, and Jason had to stop walking to glare at him. 

“Are you having us watched or something?” he growled. 

“School website,” Bruce clarified, not looking at all intimidated by Jason’s death glare. 

“Oh,” Jason said, dropping his shoulders. He hadn’t even realized he’d raised them. He started walking again. Jason thought for a long time before he said, “You know, Damian was looking for you at the game. Why weren’t you there? It’s not like I could have stopped you.”

“I didn’t think I would be welcome,” Bruce admitted. 

“Oh my god,” Jason groaned, running his hands through his hair. “You really suck at this whole, being a father thing, don’t you.”

“Then help me,” Bruce said, stopping Jason in his tracks. He turned to look at the man, really look at him, and he saw the grief on his face, the bags under his eyes. He looked like crap. 

“I’m sorry Jason,” Bruce said, and for once, Jason believed it. He heard the desperation in his voice and could see the slump of his shoulders. “I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to lose you all. I was trying to...I was trying to protect you.”

“Who talked to you?” Jason asked, crossing his arms. 

“What?” Bruce asked, taken aback. 

“I seriously doubt you came to this conclusion on your own, so I want to know, who talked to you?” Jason clarified. Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Clark,” he said, and Jason whistled. 

“Boy Scout chewed you out?” he asked, impressed. Bruce nodded. 

“He helped me realize where my priorities are,” Bruce said. 

“And where is that?” Jason asked, an eyebrow raised. 

“My children,” Bruce said, looking at Jason like he was included in that. “And the people they love.” That hit Jason in the chest. He wanted this, wanted to accept that maybe Bruce was learning, but he wasn’t the one the man had hurt the worst, not this time. Jason’s wounds were older, they would take longer to heal. There where other people Bruce needed to make up to before Jason would believe he’d really changed. 

“I don’t know how to fix this,” Bruce admitted, and Jason took a deep breath. 

“It’s not my job to teach you how to be a dad,” Jason said. 

“Please,” Bruce begged, actually begged. “What do I need to do?” Jason took another deep breath, fighting the green that threatened to rise in his chest. He needed to keep his anger under control. He didn’t know why Bruce was asking this shit of him, his least stable son, but Damian didn’t deserve Jason ruining this because he couldn’t control his anger. 

“You need to father your kid,” Jason said, and Bruce looked surprised like he wasn’t expecting an answer, or maybe just not that one. 

“Damian won’t answer my calls,” Bruce said, and Jason swallowed a growl. 

“You have other kids,” Jason said, and Bruce raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know Bruce, call Dick, or Tim. Ask them to dinner, tell them you love them, or take Dickhead to a circus, he loves those. Tim loves to take pictures, take him to a garden or something. Steph would probably be happy with food, and Cass would love a play or ballet. Damian loves animals. Ask him to the zoo. Show up to his games. When he looked for you and you weren’t there he covered his disappointment with anger. You let him keep doing that and he will start to think he actually hates you.”

“He doesn’t,” Bruce asked, sounding surprised. 

“Maybe a little,” Jason admitted, and Bruce flinched. “But mostly I think he’s disappointed in you.” Bruce’s shoulders fell, before he took a deep breath and squared them again, determined. 

“And you?” Bruce asked. 

“What about me?” Jason asked, confused. 

“What do you want to me to do?” he clarified. Jason scoffed. 

“I don’t want anything from you Bruce,” Jason said, and Bruce’s expression fell again. “You're the reason I don’t get to hear my boyfriend laugh anymore,” Jason said, but there wasn’t as much anger to the words as he was expecting. Still, Bruce hung his head, and Jason continued. “Danny is hurting really badly, and that hurts me. I’m not ready to forgive you. I don’t know if I ever will be. But you can make it up to me by being a father to the people who want you to be their father.” Bruce looked up, and Jason could see the tears in his eyes. 

“There’s a house full of people back there that will forgive you if you give them a reason to believe you’ve changed,” Jason gestured back down the street. “So don’t waste your time on me right now. Just be a fucking dad.” The two men stood in silence for a while, Bruce wiping his face with his sleeve. Finally, Bruce spoke. 

“Thank you, Jay,” he said softly. “I’m going to try to make it up to everyone, if it’s the last thing I do.” 

“Whatever old man,” Jason said, but the words were more playful than cruel. He started walking back toward his house, shivering slightly in the cold. He hadn’t noticed it before, but he had only thrown a light jacket on when he went outside, and the weather had turned cold. 

“Jay,” Bruce called and Jason looked over his shoulder. 

“I love you,” he said, and the words struck something deep in Jason’s chest. He didn’t say them back, just turned and waved, heading back to his home. He didn’t know what to do with those words, so he tucked them away, to think about later. He wasn’t ready yet to decide if he still loved his dad or not. He would just have to wait and see. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the plan from the very beginning and I'm not sure how you'll take it. I know some of you were riding the Bruce hate train really hard, so please, let me write this. I'm projecting super hard right now, writing what I wish my own parent would do. I'm not going to make it easy for Bruce, he's got to earn it, but he really wants to change. Anyway, let me know what you think.


End file.
